1 


OCT  29  1908   ' 


BM  560  .04  1907 
Oesterley,  W.  0.  E.  1866- 

1950. 
The  religion  and  worship  of 

the  synaaoaue 


I 


The   Religion  and  Worship  of 
The  Synagogue 


The  '"Ark''  (containing  the  Scrolls  of  the  Law)  opened 

(See  p.  310)  Frontispiece 


The 

Religion   and   Worship 

of 

The    Synagogue 

An 
Introduction  to  the   Study  of  Judaism 
from     the     New     Testament     Period 

By 

W.  O.  E.  OESTERLEY,  B.D. 

Jesus  College,  Cambridge  ; 
and 

G,    H.    BOX,    M.A. 

Late  Scholar  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford  ,    Sometune 
Hebrew  Master  at  Merchant  Taylors'  School,  I^niion. 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

153-157  Fifth  Avenue 

1907 


Preface. 

In  planning  the  present  volume  the  writers  have  endea- 
voured to  keep  in  view  the  requirements  more  especially 
of  Christian  readers  and  students.  For  long  the  need 
of  a  popular  Handbook  deahng  with  Judaism  in  a  com- 
prehensive way,  in  a  manner  adequate  to  the  theme  and 
to  the  attainments  of  modern  research,  has  been  patent. 
It  is  becoming  more  and  more  widely  recognized  that  in 
the  light  of  the  new  knowledge  that  has  resulted  from  the 
study  of  comparative  religion,  Judaism,  particularly  in 
its  earlier  phases,  occupies  a  position  of  unique  importance, 
especially  for  the  elucidation  of  Christian  origins.  In  such 
a  study,  it  is  true,  Judaism  not  only  proves  illuminating, 
but  is  itself  illuminated.  But  it  remains  unfortunately 
true  that  Judaism  has  not  yet  come  to  its  rights  in  this 
department  of  knowledge.  Too  many  students  seem  still 
to  imagine  that  the  serious  study  of  the  Jewish  Religion 
can  be  left  on  one  side  altogether. 

To  Christian  theologians,  whose  interests  are  absorbed 
in  the  investigation  of  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  the 
study  of  Judaism  as  a  living  whole — as  a  vital  organism 
with  a  soul  and  genius  of  its  own — is  also  of  supreme 
importance.  We  feel  bound  to  express  our  conviction 
that  the  failure  to  appreciate  this  aspect  of  the  matter 
has  been  responsible  in  the  past  for  much  one-sided  and 
defective  exegesis  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  true, 
learned  treatises  to  illustrate  particular  themes  of 
Christian  interest — as,  e.g.,  the  various  "  Lives  "  of  Our 
Lord — have  been  written  from  time  to  time,  and  some 
of  these  are  of  great  and  enduring  value  in  particular 
ways.  But  a  collection  of  Jewish  illustrations  formed 
with  the  express  object  of  pointing  a  particular  theme  is 


not  a  presentment  of  the  Jewish  Rehgion.  It  still  remains 
true  that  in  order  that  such  illustrations  should  be  seen 
in  their  true  bearings,  and  rightly  appreciated,  they  must 
be  viewed  against  a  background  where  Judaism  is  realized 
as  a  living  whole. 

But  besides  the  student  of  comparative  religion  and 
the  Christian  theologian,  there  is  a  third  class  whose 
needs  ought  to  be  considered  in  this  matter  ;  we  mean 
that  large  and  growing  class  of  intelligent  readers 
who  take  a  human  interest  in  all  that  is  human  for 
its  own  sake,  and  to  whom  the  fact  that  Jews  and 
Judaism  occupy  so  conspicuous  a  place  in  the  modern 
world  must  make  its  appeal.  We  would  fain  hope  that 
the  present  volume  will  be  found  useful  by  and  adapted 
to  meet  the  needs  of  those  readers  who  may  happen  to 
peruse  it  because  of  their  interest  in  Judaism  as  one  of  the 
great  living  religions  of  the  world  to-day. 

We  have  been  speaking  so  far  of  non- Jewish  readers. 
It  is  for  such  that  this  volume  is  planned.  The  needs 
of  Jewish  readers  are  already  adequately  supplied  by 
manuals  written  by  co-rehgionists.  In  any  case,  we 
should  not  have  presumed  to  expound  to  them  the  tenets 
of  their  own  religion.  But  the  needs  of  non- Jewish 
Christian  readers  are  different.  Whether  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  our  present  enterprise  or  not,  such  a  Handbook 
as  is  here  attempted  must  necessarily  be  the  work  of 
non-Jewish  hands. 

Our  aim  in  writing  this  volume  has  been  not  to  make 
original  contributions  to  knowledge,  but  to  expound 
ascertained  facts.  We  hope  we  have  succeeded  in  pre- 
senting an  adequate  outline  of  Judaism  as  a  whole,  in  its 
development  from  the  New  Testament  Period  down  to 
modern  times,  English  readers  we  fear  have,  as  a  rule, 
very  imperfect  notions  as  to  the  later  phases  of  the  Jewish 
Religion.  They  have  little  or  no  conception  of  the 
richness  of  its  development,  the  extent  and  character  of 
its  literature,  or  the  greatness  and  splendour  of  some 


of  its  later  achievements.  This  doubtless  is  largely  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  has  never  been  clearly  presented  to  them 
as  a  whole.  In  too  many  instances  the  treatment  of  the 
theme  has  been  partial  and  one-sided,  and  therefore 
inadequate. 

So  far  as  the  book  can  lay  claim  to  any  originality  at 
all,  it  is  an  originality  in  the  method  and  mode  of  present- 
ment. If  we  have  succeeded  in  setting  forth  a  clear  and 
intelligible  and  just  outline  of  Judaism  we  shall  be  content. 
In  expounding  what  seem  to  us  to  be  the  most  important 
relevant  facts  we  have  availed  ourselves  freely  of  the 
work  of  various  scholars  of  recognized  eminence,  both 
Jewish  and  non-Jewish.  This  has  been  made  clear  and 
will  be  apparent  to  the  reader.* 

At  the  head  of  most  of  the  chapters  in  Parts  I  and  II 
a  special  bibliography  has  been  appended.  This  in  each 
case  is  intended  to  suggest  the  most  important  works 
(accessible  to  English  readers)  which  are  available  for 
the  more  detailed  investigation  of  the  particular  sub- 
ject. No  attempt  has  been  made  to  render  these  lists 
exhaustive. 

It  will  be  obvious  that  the  book  attempts  to  cover  a 
very  wide  range.  We  can  hardly  hope  to  have  travelled 
over  so  vast  an  area  without  mishap  or  stumbling. 
Doubtless  some  room  or  need  for  re-adjustment  in  details 
will  soon  be  made  apparent.  We  could  indeed  have 
wished  to  deal  at  greater  length  and  more  adequately 
with  certain  points  of  importance — as,  for  instance,  the 
Kabbalah,  and  the  Pharisees.  On  the  latter  point,  in 
particular,  much  might  even  now  be  written.  But  the 
time  is  hardly  yet  ripe  for  a  full  discussion  of  the  important 
issues.  This  may  profitably  be  postponed  till  the  facts 
can  be  more  fully  presented. 


*  Among  Jewish  scholars  we  are  more  particularly  conscious  of 
indebtedness  to  the  work  of  Prof.  Schechter,  and  among  Christian 
scholars  to  that  of  Schiirer,  Dalman  and  Weber. 


Viii  PREFACE 

There  is  one  other  point  of  importance  on  which  the 
writers  desire  to  lay  special  emphasis.  Rich  as  Rabbinical 
Judaism  has  been  in  its  later  phases,  it  yet  (so  it  seems 
to  us)  represents  an  essentially  attenuated  line  of  develop- 
ment. It  is  but  one  off-shoot  from  a  larger  stem.  It 
sprang  from  a  larger  and  richer  Judaism  which,  to  a 
greater  extent  than  is  sometimes  supposed,  held  within 
itself  the  forces  which  afterwards  diverged  as  Rabbinism 
and  Christianity.  The  common  meeting-ground  where 
these  forces  can  be  seen  exhibiting  themselves  in  com- 
bination (greater  or  less)  is  the  field  of  the  Apocryphal 
and  Pseudepigraphical  Literature  of  Judaism.  Here 
Christian  scholars  and  theologians  have  been  most 
actively  at  work  within  recent  years,  and  to  their  labours 
we  have  endeavoured  to  do  justice  both  in  Part  I  and 
Part  II. 

A  joint  work,  such  as  this  volume  is,  necessitated,  of 
course,  a  certain  division  of  labour.  The  actual  work 
of  writing  has  been  about  evenly  distributed  between 
the  two  authors.  But  each  has  revised  the  work  of  the 
other,  and  both  assume  a  joint  responsibility  for  what  is 
here  set  forth. 

The  writers  desire  to  acknowledge  with  gratitude  the 
courtesy  of  the  Editor  of  the  Treasury  for  allowing  the 
substance  of  two  articles  (by  Mr.  Box)  to  be  utihzed  here 
(see  Treasury,  Oct.,  1904;  March,  1906);  to  the  Editor 
of  the  Churchman  for  a  similar  courtesy  in  respect  of  an 
article  (by  the  same  writer)  which  appeared  in  the 
September  number  of  this  year ;  and,  lastly,  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hastings  who  has  kindly  allowed  two  articles 
by  the  same  writer  on  the  Jewish  Prayer-Book,  which 
appeared  in  the  Expository  Times  for  April  and  May, 
1904,  to  be  in  substance  embodied  in  the  relevant  chapter 
here.  In  this  connection  we  would  press  upon  our 
readers  the  desirability  of  each  securing  a  copy  of  the 
Jewish  Prayer-Book  for  themselves.  It  can  be  procured 
(in  Hebrew  and  English)  for  one  shilhng  (published  by 


Eyre  &  Spottiswoode).  We  have  constantly  referred  to 
it  in  these  pages  on  the  assumption  that  it  would  (as  it 
easily  can)  be  in  each  reader's  possession. 

The  writers  rejoice  in  taking  this  opportunity  of 
gratefully  acknowledging  their  immense  debt  to  Jewish 
scholarship  and  learning, — not  only  so,  but  they  also  feel  it 
incumbent  upon  themselves  to  record  how  much  good  they 
have  gained  both  mentally,  and,  they  trust,  spiritually, 
from  their  study  of  the  religion  of  the  Synagogue.  They 
are  convinced  that  Judaism  and  Christianity  are  mutually 
essential  to  each  other,  and  that  just  as  the  two  faith?  are 
complementary  and  belong  together,  so  the  advocates 
of  each  can  only  be  true  to  their  respective  faiths  by 
extending  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  each  other. 
The  writers  feel  that  they  will  not  be  misunderstood  in 
saying  this  ;  they  recognise  the  fundamental  differences 
between  Judaism  and  Christianity,  they  know  as  well  as 
most  people  the  obstacles  which  stand  in  the  way  of  union 
between  Jew  and  Christian,  they  profess  themselves  to  be 
definite  and  convinced  Churchmen,  but  this  does  not 
preclude  them  from — it  is  rather  the  cause  of  their— 
respecting  the  convictions  of  those  from  whom  they 
differ ;  nor  does  it  prevent  them  from  contributing,  in 
however  humble  a  way,  their  quota  towards  hastening 
the  glorious  consummation  which  will  one  day  come 
about  when  all  will  be  one. 

W.  O.  E.  O.  G.  H.  B. 


St.  Michael  and  All  A p.i;els, 
1907. 


Contents. 


PART  I.     INTRODUCTORY. 

CHAPTER   I. 

GENERAL   HISTORICAL   SURVEY. 

PAGE 

Historical  Importance  of  the  Babylonian  Exile — Ezra,  the 
"  Founder  of  Judaism  " — Prophetical  Ideas  regarding  the 
Meaning  of  the  Exile — The  Results  of  the  Exile  on  the 
Jewish  Community — Rise  of  Greek-speaking  Communities 
— Apocalyptic  Writers — Rabbinism  and  Christianity — 
Jewish  Communities  in  Europe        .....  i 

CHAPTER    n. 

QUESTIONS    PRELIMINARY. 

The  Influence  of  Environment  upon  the  Development  of  Re- 
ligious Belief — The  Semitic  Origin  of  the  Jews — The  Racial 
Characteristics  of  the  Jews  ;  Religiousness  ;  Enthusiasm  ; 
Optimism  ;  Perseverance  ;  Business  Capacity ;  Self- 
Assertiveness  ;  Exclusiveness  ;  Cosmopolitanism  ,  .       lO 

CHAPTER   HI, 

THE   SOURCES   OF   JUDAISM. 

The  Torah  ("  Law  ")  ;  the  Prophets  ;  the  "  Writings  "—The 
Apocrypha :  Historical  and  Pseudo-Historical  Books  ; 
Prophetic  Apocrypha  ;  Didactic  Apocrypha  ;  Apocalyptic 
Literature  in  the  Apocrypha— Pseudepigrapha  :  Pseudepi- 
graphic  Legends  ;  Pseudepigraphic  Poetry  ;  Didactic 
Pseudepigraph  ;  Pseudepigraphic  Apocalypses — Rejection  of 
Pseudepigrapha  by  Pharisaic  Judaism       ....        26 

CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   SOURCES  OF  JUDAISM    (CONTINUED). 

The  Targums — The  Oral  Tradition  (the  Talmudical  Literature) 
— The  Oral  Law  Generally — The  Mishnah — Tosephta — 
Baraithas — The  Talmuds — Apocryphal  Appendices — Com- 
mentaries  on   the  Talmud — Compendiums   of  the   Talmud       44 


XU  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V. 

THE   SOURCES   OF   JUDAISM    (CONCLUDED). 

PAGB 

The  Mtdrashim  :  Midrash  Halakah  and  Midrash  Haggadah — 
The  Halakic  Mtdrashim — The  Haggadic  Midrashim  on  the 
Pentateuch  and  Five  Scrolls — The  Homiletic  Midrashim  on 
the  Lections — Other  Midrashim — Characteristics  of  the 
Midrashic  Literature— New  Testament  Illustrations — The 
Prayer -Book — Ashkenazim  and  Sefardim — Prayer-Book 
Compilations — Appendix  :  Later  Sources  ...        74 


CHAPTER   VI. 

HISTORICAL   SKETCH   OF   THE    DIVISIONS   WITHIN    THE 
JEWISH    BODY. 

The  Dispersion — The  Pharisees — The  Scribes — The  Sadducees 
— The  Essenes — The  Karaites — The  Chassidim — The 
"  Reform  "  Jews     ........ 


PART  II.     DOGMATIC  JUDAISM. 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE   LAW    ("  TO  RAH  "). 

The  Torah  the  final  Revelation  of  God  for  all  Time — Salvation 
only  through  the  Torah — The  Legalistic  Element  in  Jewish 
Piety— Israel  the  People  of  the  Tora/i— Christ  and  the 
Law — The  Oral  Tradition         .  .  ... 


135 


CHAPTER  Vni. 

THE   JEWISH   CONCEPTION   OF    GOD. 

The  Unity  of  God— The  Nature  and  Attributes  of  God— The 

Relation  of  God  to  Israel  and  to  the  World    .  .  .15* 


CHAPTER   IX. 

INTERMEDIATE   AGENCIES    BETWEEN    GOD   AND    MAN. 

Quasi-personification  of  Attributes  proper  to  God — Metatron — 
Memra—The  Holy  S-p\iit—Bath  Kol—The  Shekhinah— The 
Name — Bearing  of  these  on  Christian  Doctrine  .  .169: 


CONTENTS  XIU 

CHAPTER   X. 

THE   JEWISH   DOCTRINE   OF   THE   MESSIAH. 

PAGE 

Belief  in  the  Messiah  one  of  Growth  and  Development — Mes- 
sianic Teaching  in  the  Apocrypha — Messianic  Teaching  in 
the  Pseudepigrapha — Contrast  between  Pharisaic  and  Jewish- 
Hellenistic    Teaching— The    Teaching    of    later    Judaism   .      196 

CHAPTER   XI. 

ESCHATOLOGY. 

The  Kingdom  of  God — The  Eschatological  Drama ;  World-Epochs ; 
The  War  of  Gog  and  Magog  ;  The  Fate  of  the  Gentiles  ; 
The  Purification  of  the  Land  ;  The  Ingathering  of  Israel  ; 
The  Rebuilding  of  Jerusalem — The  Future  Life — Gehenna — 
Paradise  .  .  .  .  .  •  •  •  .211 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

THE   JEWISH   DOCTRINE   OF  SIN. 

The  Comprehensive  Character  of  the  Subject — The  Teaching 
of  the  Old  Testament — Perplexing  Character  of  the 
Teaching  in  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha — Rabbinical 
Teaching — The  Doctrine  of  the  Jetser  hara' — The  Doctrine 
of  Zecuth — Fundamental  Difference  between  Jewish  and 
Christian  Teaching — Modern  Jewish  Teaching  on  the  Subject     229 

CHAPTER  Xni. 

THE   JEWISH   DOCTRINE   OF   BAPTISM. 

The  Original  Signification  of  the  Jewish  Rite — Did  Jewish 
Baptism  partake  of  the  Nature  of  a  Sacrament  ? — Old 
Testament  Baptism  Sacramental  in  Character — Tebilah 
not  a  Sacrament — Essene  Baptism  Sacramental  .  .      255 


PART  III.     PRACTICAL  RELIGION. 
CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   EDUCATION    AND   LIFE   OF   THE   JEW. 

What  is  a  Jew  ? — Early  Years — Education  of  Children — Cheder 
and  Religious  Instruction — Hebrew  and  Yiddish — Bar 
Mitzvah — Higher  Instruction    ......     265 


Xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    EDUCATION    AND    LIFE    OF   THE    JEW    (CONCLUDED). 

PAGE 

Marriage    and    Divorce — The    Religious    Position    of    Women — 

The  Home — Death  and  Mourning    .....      284 

CHAPTER   XVI.       ^ 

THE    SYNAGOGUE   AND    THE    SACRED    YEAR   AND   CALENDAR. 

The  Synagogue  ;  its  Arrangement  ;  Officers  ;  Services — Arrange- 
ment of  Calendar — Dates  of  the  Festivals  and  Fasts — 
The  Jewish  Era      ........      309 

CHAPTER   XVn. 

THE    PRAYER-BOOK. 

The  General  Character  of  the  Prayers — Influence  of  Sacrificial 
Worship  of  the  Temple  on  the  Synagogue  Liturgy — 
The  Benedictions  and  the  "  Eighteen  Blessings  " — The 
Shema'  with  its  Benedictions — Kaddish  and  Prayers  for  the 
Dead — Arrangement  of  the  Prayers  generally    .  .  .327 


CHAPTER  XVni. 

THE   SABBATH. ^ 

The  Sabbath  not  a  Burden— The  "  Hallowing  "  of  the  Sabbath 
— The  Weekly  Lesson  from  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Prophets 
— The  Sabbath  Rest  from  Labour,  etc.    ....      344 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    FESTIVALS. 

Passover  :  the  Preparation  ;  the  Seder  or  "  Home  Festival"  ;  the 
Passover  Synagogue  Services — Pentecost  :  "  The  Counting 
of  the  Omer  "  ;  the  Festival — Tabernacles — Dedication 
— Purim 355 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE   SOLEMN    DAYS   AND    FASTS. 

The  New  Year  and  Day  of  Atonement — The  Blowing  of  the 
Shofar — Meaning  of  the  New  Year  Celebration — Significance 
of  the  Day  of  Atonement  to  Modern  Jews — Services  on  the 
Day  of  Atonement — The  Fasts — Significance  of  Fasting 
— Private  and  Public  Fasts      .  .  .  .  .  .381 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

SOME   MODERN    RELIGIOUS   RITES    AND   CUSTOMS    AMONG 
THE    JEWS,    AND   THEIR   ORIGIN. 

PAGE 

Circumcision — Redemption  of  the  First-born — The  Dietary 
Laws— Kapparath  -  Schlag — Peyoth — Phylacteries — Praying- 
Shawl — Swaying  the  Body — The  Marriage  Chuppah — 
The  Door-post  Symbol    .......     407 


Illustrations. 


The  "  Ark  "  (containing  the  Scrolls  of  the  Law)  opened     Frontispiece 
The  Reader  at  the  Desk  (or  Bema)         .  .      facing  page     134 

The  "  Hagbahah  "  or  Elevation  of  the  Scroll  of  the 

Law  ....  ..  „        150 


The  Search  for  Leaven 

The  Passover  Table  Spread 

In  the  Booth  (Feast  of  Tabernacles) 

The  Procession  of  the  Palms 

The  Blowing  of  the  Shofar  or  Cornet 


210 
358 


372 

384 


Index  ...........     427 

Index  to  Bibliographical,  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigraphic 

References  .........     439 


Abbreviations  and  Short  Titles  of  Books. 
Bousset  =»  Die   Religion   des   Judcntums   im  neutestamentlichen 

Zeitaltev  (1903),  (2nd  edition,  1906). 
Dalman  Words  =  The  Words  of  Jesus  (Engl.  Transl.  1902). 
E.  Bibl  =  Encyclopedia  Biblica,  ed.  Cheyne  and  Black. 

E.  Brit  =■  Encyclopaedia  Britannica   (9th  edition). 

Friedlander         ==  The  Jewish   Religion    (2nd   edition,    1900). 
Hastings'  DB    =  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  ed.    Hastings. 
Hastings'  DCG  =-  Dictionary  of  Christ  and  the  Gospels,  ed.  Hastings. 
HJP  =  A  History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Jesus 

Christ,    by    E.    Schiirer    (English    Translation 

1890). 
Holtzmann  =  Neutestamentliche  Zeitgeschichte  (2nd  edition   1906). 

JE  =  Jewish  EncyclopcBdia. 

JQR  =  Jewish  Quarterly  Review. 

Kautsch  =  Die    Apokryphen    und    Pseudepigraphen    des    Alt  en 

Testaments,  ed.  E.  Kautsch. 
PEFQS  =  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  Quarterly  Statement. 

PRE  =-  Real-Encyklopddie  fur  protestantische  Theologie  und 

Kirche,  ed.  Herzog  and  Hauck. 
PSBA  —  Proceedings  of  the  Society  for  Biblical  ArchcBology. 

RE  -=  Rcalencyclopddie  fur  Bibel  und  Talmud. 

Singer  ~  The  Authorized  Daily   Prayer -Book   of  the    United 

Hebrew   Congregations    of    the    British    Empire, 

ed.  Singer  (6th  edition  1900). 
Weber  =  Jiidische    Theologie    auf    Grund    des    Talmud    und 

verwandter  Schriften  (end  edition   1897). 


The  Religion  and  Worship 
of  the  Synagogue. 


PART  I.     INTRODUCTORY. 

CHAPTER  I. 

General  Historical  Survey. 

Historical  Importance  of  the  Babylonian  Exile — Ezra,  the  "  Founder 
of  Judaism  " — Prophetical  Ideas  regarding  the  Meaning  of  the 
Exile — The  Results  of  the  Exile  on  the  Jewish  Community — Rise 
of  Greek-speaking  Communities— Apocalyptic  Writers— Rabbinism 
and  Christianity — Jewish  Communities  in  Europe. 

Both  politically  and  religiously  the  Babylonian  Exile 
marks  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  People  of  Israel.  In 
a  sense  it  is  the  climax  of  their  history,  for  with  it  the 
national  existence  came  to  an  end.  With  the  destruction 
of  the  Jewish  State  all  that  remained  of  the  Israel  of  old 
was  dissolved. 

But  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  a  new  Israel  was  to  arise. 
For  just  as  the  Exodus  resulted  in  making  Israel  a  nation, 
so  the  Exile  and  its  consequences  became  the  appointed 
means  for  transforming  the  nation  into  a  Church.  Hence- 
forth we  have  to  deal,  not  with  a  single  people  living  its 
confined  but  intense  national  life  within  the  narrow 
limits  of  Judaean  Palestine,  but  with  a  religious  com- 
munity widely  (and,  as  time  proceeded,  ever  more  widely) 
diffused  ;  whose  centre  (or  rather  centres)  lay  outside 
Palestine  ;  and  among  whose  units  Palestinian  Judaism 
only  slowly  and  gradually  assumed  a  pre-eminent  place, 
which  it  was  destined  ultimately  once  more  to  lose. 


2        SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  advent  of  Cyrus  as  deliverer  had,  it  is  true,  excited 
the  hopes  of  the  more  patriotic  of  the  J  e wash  exiles  to 
the  highest  pitch.  They  looked  for  a  second  Exodus — 
this  time  from  Babylon  ^ — and  for  the  establishment  of 
Israel  in  the  Holy  Land  on  the  basis  of  a  new  covenant, 
and  in  a  form  fitted  to  express  the  lofty  conceptions 
that  had  been  developed  of  the  covenant-people's 
vocation  and  destiny.^  These  aspirations  find  their 
sublimest  expression  and  most  gorgeous  setting  in  the 
discourses  of  the  "  Great  Unknown  "  prophet  of  the 
Exile,  who  is  commonly  designated  the  Deutero-Isaiah 
(Isaiah,  Chaps.  40  foil.). 

In  the  immediate  result,  expectation,  as  we  know,  was 
only  very  imperfectly  fulfilled.  In  the  minds  of  the 
more  ardent  the  reality  must  have  produced  disillusion- 
ment ;  while  others  could  only  look  to  the  future  for 
the  longed-for  consummation.  Meanwhile  the  Jeru- 
salem community  lived  on  in  obscurity  and  weakness, 
and  as  yet  gave  little  promise  of  what  was  to  come. 
"  All  seems  on  a  reduced  scale,  as  compared  with  the 
past.  Zechariah  was  the  chief  prophet,  Nehemiah 
the  chief  man  of  action,  in  an  epoch  which  their  con- 
temporaries spoke  of  slightingly,  but  mistakenly,  as 
'  a  day  of  small  things.'"  ^  One  great  and  distinguished 
figure,  however,  emerges  in  the  person  of  Ezra,  who 
occupies  a  unique  place  in  the  history  of  Jewish  religion. 
Ezra,  in  fact,  may  justly  be  described  as  the  "  founder 
of  Judaism."  Before  proceeding  to  summarize  the 
characteristics  of  the  age  subsequent  to  Nehemiah  it 
will  be  well  to  state  briefly,  (i)  the  prophetic  ideas 
regarding  the  meaning  of  the  Exile,  and  (2)  its  actual 
results  on  the  Jewish  community. 

(i)  According  to  the  prophets  the  destruction  of  the 
Jewish  State  was  due  to  the  sin  of  the  -people.     The  prophets, 

1  Cf.,  e.g.,  Is.  422"  £f.  ;    5211. 

»  Cf.   Is.   42«,';    49. 

'  Hay  Hunter,  After  the  Exile,  I,  xvii. 


RESULTS   OF  THE   EXILE  3 

who  have  been  well  called  "  the  conscience  of  Israel  " 
exhibit  a  keen  and  intense  sense  of  national  sin.  Accord- 
ingly Israel  is  judged  after  a  (relatively)  ideal  standard. 
An  instance  vividly  illustrating  the  prophetic  conception 
of  the  destructiveness  of  moral  evil  can  be  seen  in 
Jeremiah  423-26. 

Further,  the  jail  of  Judah  was  the  triumph  of  Jehovah. 
The  Jehovah  of  the  prophets  was  the  moral  ruler  of  the 
world  Who  "  was  exalted  in  judgment  .  .  .  sanctified 
in  righteousness  "  (Is.  5^^).  While  other  gods  shared 
the  ruin  of  their  people  Jehovah  alone  "  rose  the  higher 
over  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem."  Far  different  was  it 
with  the  Jehovah  of  the  mass  of  the  people  and  their 
prophets.  He  was  but  the  national  deity  of  Israel, 
and  had  succumbed  before  the  gods  of  Babylon.^ 

(2)  The  results  of  the  Exile  on  the  Jewish  Community 
were  stupendous.  It  denationalized  religion.  It  has 
justly  been  pointed  out  ^  that,  in  principle,  the  separation 
between  the  State  and  the  Church  had  already  been 
effected  in  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy.  But  in  practice 
Deuteronomic  principles  met  at  the  outset  with  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  realization.  The  last  of 
these  disappeared  with  the  destruction  of  the  State. 
"  The  death  of  the  people  was  the  birth  of  the  individual, 
and  the  ruin  of  the  State  the  rise  of  the  Church." 
Ultimately,  as  we  shall  see,  the  new  religious  forces  that 
were  developed  embodied  themselves  in  new  forms. 

The  first  to  seize  and  enforce  the  lessons  of  the  Exile 
was  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  "  the  first  dogmatist  of  the 
Old  Testament."  He  laid  the  theological  foundations 
of  the  structure  which  Ezra  reared.^ 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  catastrophe  of  586  B.C., 


^  See  further  Davidson,  The  Exile  and  Restoration,  ch.  ii. 

*  e.g.,     by  Cornill,   Der  Israelitische  Prophetismus,  pp.   83  fi. 
(6th  Ed.). 

*  Cf.  the  Chapter  referring  to  Ezek.  in  Cornill,  op.  cit.  ch.  iv, 
pp.   117  ff. 


4        SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

when  Temple  and  City  were  destroyed,  must  have  been 
keenly  felt  by  all  the  survivors.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  exiles  in  Chaldaea  were  allowed  to  live  together 
in  clans  and  families,  many  doubtless  lost  heart  and 
faith,  and  merged  themselves  in  the  surrounding 
heathenism.  Those  who  remained  faithful  were  almost 
without  hope.  "  They  were  lying  under  a  sort  of  vast 
interdict ;  they  could  not  celebrate  any  sacrifice  or 
keep  any  feast  ;  they  could  only  celebrate  days  of  fasting 
and  humihation,^  and  such  rites  as  had  no  inseparable 
connexion  with  the  Holy  Land."  Among  the  practices 
whose  importance  as  signs  of  a  common  religion  was 
enhanced  during  this  period  were  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  and  the  rite  of  circumcision.  Meetings  on 
the  Sabbath  Day,  during  which  it  may  have  become 
customary  to  read  selections  from  the  prophetic  writings, 
appear  also  to  have  grown  up  during  the  Exile. 

The  achievements  of  the  century  which  ended  with 
the  age  of  Nehemiah  cannot  be  better  summed  up  than 
in  the  words  of  the  eloquent  author  of  After  the  Exile  2  : 
"  Within  these  hundred  years  .  .  .  the  teaching  of 
Moses  was  estabhshed  as  the  basis  of  the  national  life, 
the  first  steps  were  taken  towards  the  formation  of  a 
Canon  of  Scripture.  Jewish  society  was  moulded  into 
a  shape  which  succeeding  centuries  modified,  but  did  not 
essentially  change.  During  this  period,  the  Judaea  of  the 
days  of  our  Lord  came  into  being.  Within  this  period,  the 
forces  which  opposed  Christ,  the  forces  which  rallied 
to  His  side,  had  their  origin.  This  century  saw  the 
rise  of  parties,  which  afterwards  became  sects,  under 

1  Such  were  the  fasts  of  the  loth,  4th,  5  th  and  7th  months 
(cf.  Zech.  8"),  commemorating  the  commencement  of  the  siege 
of  Jerusalem  (loth  of  Tebeth),  the  breach  made  in  the  wall  (17th 
Tammuz),  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  (9th  of  Ab),  and  the 
murder  of  Gedaliah  (3rd  of  Tisri),  all  still  observed  by  the  Jews 
(see  ch.  xx).  According  to  Jewish  tradition  both  the  first  and  the 
second  Temple  were  destroyed  on  the  same  day  (9th  of  Ab). 

^  Vol.  I,  p.  xvi. 


FURTHER   RESULTS   OF  THE   EXILE         5 

the  names  of  Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  It  laid  the 
foundations  of  Rabbinism.  It  fixed  the  attitude  of  the 
Jews  towards  the  Gentiles.  It  put  the  priesthood  on 
the  way  to  supreme  authority.  It  gave  birth  to  the 
Samaritan  schism." 

Nothing  is  more  significant  of  the  altered  balance  of 
forces  that  inevitably  grew  out  of  the  changed  conditions 
of  Jewish  life  than  the  position  of  the  Davidic  royal  house 
in  the  restored  community.  The  last  member  of  the  old 
royal  family  to  occupy  a  position  of  power  and  importance 
at  Jerusalem  appears  to  have  been  Zerubbabel,  who  for 
a  time  was  Governor  (or  "  Pekah  ").  But  while  the 
importance  of  the  old  Davidic  line  decHned,  that  of  the 
High  Priest  correspondingly  advanced.  Indeed,  it  is 
probable  that  the  latter  came  to  be  recognized  as  the 
official  representative  of  the  community  by  the  Imperia 
Power.  It  is  true  that  for  a  brief  space  the  Palestinian 
Jews  won  and  enjoyed  political  independence  in  the 
brilliant  days  of  the  Maccabees,  But  this  is  only  one  of 
those  exceptions  that  piove  the  rule.  National  inde- 
pendence was  then  only  secured  when  the  religious 
elements  among  the  people  were  goaded  into  revolt  by 
persecution  ;  and  the  latter  quite  willingly  acquiesced 
in  the  re-establishment  of  foreign  control  over  secular 
affairs,  when  religious  liberty  was  again  guaranteed. 
In  fact  it  was  ultimately  recognized  that  the  political 
independence  won  by  the  Hasmoneans  was  really 
only  a  "  brilliant  aberration "  from  the  true  course 
of  the  Church-nation's  historical  development.^ 

1  It  is  true,  the  party  of  the  "  Zealots  "  became  powerful  in 
the  first  century  a.d.  in  Palestine,  and  were  really  responsible 
for  the  revolt  against  Rome,  which  ended  in  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  a.d.  70,  and  this  party  was,  of  course,  a  political  party 
in  the  sense  that  it  was  anti-Roman,  and  objected  to  all  foreign 
domination  ;  the  same  remark  applies  to  the  Bar-Kokba  revolt 
(132-135  A.D.)  when  the  most  famous  Rabbi  of  the  period,  Akiba, 
committed  himself  to  a  definitely  anti-Roman  attitude  and  paid 
the  penalty  with  his  life.     But  in  both  cases  strong  protests  were 


6        SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  period  subsequent  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Law 
by  the  Jerusalem  community  (b.c.  444,  probably)  is, 
strictly  speaking,  the  period  of  Judaism.  The  ideas 
that  characterize  the  system  of  Judaism  will  come  up  for 
discussion  later  on.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  striking, 
and  one  that  later  received  manifold  expression,  is  the 
idea  of  the  separateness  of  the  Jew  from  the  heathen. 

The  period  that  falls  between  Nehemiah's  second 
visit  to  Jerusalem  (b.c.  432)  and  the  birth  of  our  Lord 
is  one  of  many-sided  importance.  Though  it  is  often 
neglected,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  without  some  know- 
ledge of  the  history,  pohtical  and  religious,  which  during 
these  centuries  so  profoundly  affected  Jewish  hfe  and 
thought,  not  only  the  New  Testament,  but  also  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  Old,  cannot  be  at  all  adequately 
understood.  Under  the  action  of  Greek  culture  and 
civilization,  which  were  widely  diffused  with  the  conquests 
of  Alexander,  as  well  as  by  the  subsequent  rise  of  Roman 
political  power  in  the  East,  Palestine,  in  common  with 
the  rest  of  the  ancient  oriental  world,  was  transformed. 
The  internal  and  external  life  and  growth  of  Judaism 
itself  were  profoundly  modified  ;  parties  and  movements, 
religious  and  political  ideas  and  ideals,  were  slowly 
developed  and  gradually  assumed  the  form  with  which 
the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  have  made  us  famihar. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  evidence  of  these  influences 
on  Judaism,  during  this  period,  is  the  rise  of  the  large 
and  powerful  communities  of  Greek-speaking  Jews  which, 
after  the  commencement  of  the  Greek  epoch  had  come 
into  existence  in  various  portions  of  the  civiHzed  world 
outside  Palestine,  and  within  the  confines  of  the  Roman 
Empire  (The  Dispersion)  .^     How  large  a  part  this  element 


made  by  other  eminent  Jewish  authorities,  and  ultimately  a 
non-political  attitude  was  accepted  as  the  true  expression  of 
Judaism. 

1  Cf.  S.  John  735  .     "  "Will  He  go  unto  the  Dispersion  among 
the  Greeks  and  teach  the  Greeks  ?  " 


THE   JEWISH   APOCALYPTISTS  7 

subsequently  played  in  facilitating  the  rapid  diffusion  of 
Christianity  is  well  known  ;  take  for  instance  the  eloquent 
fact  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  at  least  in 
their  canonical  form,  assumed  a  Greek  dress. ^ 

The  Judaism  of  Alexandria — the  Judaism  of  Philo — 
was,  of  course,  very  different  from  the  Pharisaic  orthodoxy 
of  Jerusalem.  And,  no  doubt,  the  broader  and  less 
exclusive  type  of  religion  that  characterized  the  Alexan- 
drines fixed  the  type  of  religion  that  prevailed  in  the 
Jewish  communities  of  the  Roman  Empire  generally. 
S.  Paul  may  have  been  brought  under  the  influence 
of  this  spirit  in  his  early  years  at  Tarsus,  though  he  did 
(for  a  time)  become  a  "  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees."  In 
fact  it  is  possible  that  on  the  soil  of  Palestine  itself  a 
school  of  religious  thought  of  a  distinctly  higher  spiritual 
type  than  the  current  Pharisaic  orthodoxy  may  have 
been  active  in  the  last  two  centuries  B.C.,  and  that  the 
leaders  of  this  school  were  the  great  Apocalyptic  writers, 
some  of  whose  work  has  survived  in  the  Apocalyptic 
literature  (e.g.  the  Book  of  Enoch).  If,  as  has  recently 
been  maintained, ^  the  great  Apocalyptists,  rather  than 
the  orthodox  Rabbis  of  Jerusalem,  were  the  religious 
leaders  of  large  sections  of  the  people — "  the  people  of  the 
land  "  3 — and  if  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist  was 
really  a  movement  that  took  its  rise  among  the  'am  ha- 
arets,  then  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  highly 
interesting  fact  that  there  was  within  Palestinian  Judaism 
a   sort   of  Jewish   preparation   for   Christianity.^     It  is 

^  In  fact,  the  New  Testament  books,  in  point  of  language  may 
be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  extensive  Hellenistic  literature 
of  the  Jews  which  included  the  Jewish-Greek  version  of  the  Old 
Testament  known  as  The  Septuagint. 

*  See  M.  Friedlander's  epoch-making  book,  Die  religiosen 
Bewegimgen  innerhalb  des  ludentums  im  Zeitalter  Jesu  (Berlin, 
1905). 

'  "  People  of  the  land,"  Heb.  ^am  ha-areis,  almost  a  technical 
term  in  Rabbinical  literature. 

*  In  the  first  two  chapters  of  the  Third  Gospel  we  may  very 
probably  see  a  sketch  of  this  type  of  Jewish  piety  in  the  typical 


8        SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

important  to  remember  that  Judaism,  as  it  existed  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  was  much  more  complex  and 
richer  in  content  than  it  afterwards  became  when  Rabbinism 
secured  its  final  triumph.  Rabbitiical  orthodoxy  was 
only  one  a?nong  other  elements  before  a.d.  70.  Doubtless 
the  rise  of  Christianity  had  some  influence  in  fixing 
the  ultimate  result ;  Christianity  must  have  largely 
absorbed  the  more  Uberal  elements  of  the  Jewish  Dis- 
persion. Henceforth,  after  a.d.  70,  Judaism  is  essentially 
bound  up  with  the  Rabbinical  expression  of  it.  The 
centre  of  the  Rabbinic  schools  was  at  first  Palestine, 
where  under  the  Jewish  patriarchs  the  Jewish  com- 
munity were  to  enjoy  for  a  period  a  certain  amount  of 
prosperity  (2-4  cent.  a.d.).  Here  the  eariiest  codification 
of  the  oral  Law,  the  Mishnah,  was  written  (c.  190  a.d.) 
by  Judah  ha-Nasi  (the  "  Prince ").  The  Mishnah 
formed  the  basis  for  discussion  in  the  Rabbinical  schools 
both  of  Palestine  and  of  Babylonia  ;  for,  it  must  be 
remembered,  Babylonia  was  still  the  centre  of  a  large 
Jewish  population.  The  results  of  these  discussions  in 
Palestine  and  Babylonia  were  embodied  in  the  Talmud  of 
Jerusalem  (completed  c.  5  cent,  a.d.)  and  the  Talmud 
of  Babylon  (completed  c.  6  cent.  a.d.)^. 

A  word  may  be  added  on  the  rise  of  Jewish  com- 
munities in  Europe.  The  fact  that  such  existed  at 
a  comparatively  early  period  in  Greece  and  Rome 
is  already  famihar  from  the  New  Testament.  When 
the  Roman  community  had  its  origin  is  unknown,  but 
in  any  case  it  was  well  established  by  the  time  of 
S.  Paul.  If,  as  seems  not  improbable,  the  Emperor 
Hadrian  deported  some  Jewish  colonists  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Rhine  after  the  suppression  of  the 
Bar-Kokba    revolt    (135  a.d.),  we  can  see  in  this  fact 

figures  of  Mary  and  Joseph,  Simeon  and  Afina,  and  Zacharias, 
all  doubtless  looking  for  a  spiritual  (as  opposed  to  a  merely 
national)  redemption  to  be  effected  by  the  "  consolation  of 
Israel." 

1  See  further  ch.  v. 


THE  STUDY   OF  JEWISH   HISTORY  9 

the  origin  of  the  rise  of  the  great  central  community  of 
Jews  which  spread  over  Middle  Europe,  including 
Poland,  and  which  was  called  later  the  community  of 
the  Ashkenazim.i 

We  are  thus  brought  to  the  full  stream  of  European 
Jewish  History,  and  so  into  the  domain  of  all  that  can 
be  called  Modem  in  its  application  to  Judaism. 

^  See  ch.  v. 

Additional  Note. — The  Study  of  Jewish  History  with  which  the 
present  volume  is  not  directly  concerned,  is  all-important 
for  the  right  understanding  of  Judaism  generally.  The  main 
relevant  facts  can  be  gathered  from  several  useful  works. 
The  following,  which  are  accessible  in  English,  may  be 
enumerated  here  : — 
i.  Between  Nehemiah  and  the  New  Testament  : 

Jerusalem  under  the  High-Priests  by  E.  Bevan,  London, 
1904  ;  From  Exile  to  Advent  by  W.  Fairweather,  Edinburgh, 

ii.  The  New  Testament  Period  : 

History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ 
(Enghsh  Translation,  5  vols.)  by  E.  Schiirer.  Edinburgh, 
1890.  The  Jews  under  Roman  Rule,  W.  D.  Morrison,  London, 
1890  (strongly  recommended).  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus, 
the  Messiah,  by  A.  Edersheim  (2  vols.,  7th  Ed.),  London, 
1892  ;  also  abbreviated  edition  in  one  volume, 
iii.  History  of  the  Jews  generally  : 

History  of  the  [Jews,  by  H.  Graetz  (English  Translation, 
5  vols.),  London,  1892.  History  of  the  Jewish  Nation,  by 
A.  Edersheim  (New  Edition),  London,  1896.  Jewish  Life 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  by  I.  Abrahams,  London,  1896.  Out- 
lines of  Jewish  History,  by  Lady  Magnus,  London,  1898. 
The  following  volume  will  also  be  found  very  useful,  1. 
Abrahams,  A  Short  History  of  Jewish  Literature  (from  a.d., 
70-1786),  London,   1906. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Questions  Preliminary. 

The  Influence  of  Environment  upon  the  Development  of  Religious 
Belief — The  Semitic  Origin  of  the  Jews — The  Racial  Characteristics 
of  the  Jews  ;  Religiousness  ;  Enthusiasm  ;  Optimism  ;  Perse- 
verance ;  Business  Capacity  ;  Self-Assertiveness  ;  Exclusiveness  ; 
Cosmopolitanism. 

I.  The  Influence  of  Environment  upon  the 
Development  of    Religious  Belief. 

It  is  a  truth  which  is  probably  insufficiently  realized 
that  early  religious  conceptions  and  practices  have  been 
to  a  large  extent  (under  God)  evolved,  moulded,  and 
either  stereotyped  or  modified,  by  physical  surroundings. 
This  has  had  its  effect  upon  the  religion  of  the  Jews, 
for,  although  the  religion  of  Israel  was  so  distinctive 
and  unique  from  the  very  beginnings  of  the  nation's 
history,  it  is  certain,  nevertheless,  that  its  ancestors 
practised  a  faith  which  was,  in  its  main  characteristics, 
common  to  the  Semitic  race.^ 

"  The  positive  Semitic  religions  had  to  establish 
themselves  on  ground  already  occupied  by  older  beliefs 
and  usages  ;  they  had  to  displace  what  they  could  not 
assimilate,  and  whether  they  rejected  or  absorbed  the 
elements  of  the  older  religion,  they  had  at  every  point 
to  reckon  with  them,  and  take  up  a  definite  attitude 
towards  them.  No  positive  religion  that  has  moved 
men  has  been  able  to  start  with  a  tabula  rasa,  and  express 
itself  as  if  religion  were  beginning  for  the  first  time."  '^ 

^  Jos.  242 :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  your  fathers 
dwelt  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood  (i.e.,  the  Euphrates)  in  old 
time,  even  Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham  and  the  father  of 
Nachor,  and  they  served  other  gods."     Cf.  also  verses  14,  15. 

*  Robertson  Smith  :  The  Religion  of  the  Semites  (New  Edition), 
p.   2. 

10 


INFLUENCE   OF   ENVIRONMENT  11 

Moreover,  we  have  overwhelming  evidence  in  the  Bible 
itself  that  from  the  wanderings  in  the  wilderness  right 
up  to  the  Babylonian  Captivity  there  was  an  ever- 
recurring  tendency  to  revert  to  an  older — a  polytheistic 
— form  of  worship.  Clearly,  therefore,  this  ancient 
worship  exercised  considerable  influence  upon  the  religion 
of  Israel  ;  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  no  one 
of  the  religions  of  Semitic  origin,  among  which  not 
only  Judaism,  but  Christianity  itself  is  to  be  reckoned, 
can  be  fully  understood  without  inquiry  into  the  older 
traditional  religion  of  the  Semitic  race.^  It  is  no  part 
of  our  present  intention  to  prosecute  such  inquiry  here, 
but  a  reference  to  the  older  faith  will  be  necessary  in 
several  cases,  because  (as  will  be  seen  in  a  later  Chapter) 
a  number  of  the  religious  practices  of  modern  orthodox 
J  ews  go  back  in  their  origin  to  a  period  of  remote  antiquity , 
and,  if  religious  customs  and  practices  are  to  be  properly 
understood,  they  must,  whenever  possible,  be  traced  back 
to  their  origin. 

In  its  beginnings  the  Israelite  religion  was  greatly 
influenced  by  environment,  physical  as  well  as  social ; 
in  its  most  modern  developments  the  influence  of 
environment  has  been  very  marked.  Take  as  an 
instance  the  eloquent  fact  that  the  Jewish  people,  who 
within  historical  times,  down  to  the  time  when  the 
Mishnah  was  compiled, ^  were  essentially  an  agricultural 
people,  have  under  stress  of  political  and  social  circum- 
stances almost  entirely  ceased  to  be  so  ;  this  has  been  the 
case  for  the  greater  part  of  the  Christian  era.^    As  is 


1  Robertson  Smith  :  The  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  3. 

2  Whole  treatises  of  the  Mishnah  are  devoted  to  purely 
agricultural  subjects  ;  the  first  division  of  the  Mishnah  has  the 
general  title  Z^ya/m  ("  Seeds  "),  and  the  second  treatise  in  this 
division,  Peah  ("  Corner  "),  deals  with  the  regulations  concerning 
the  corner  of  the  field  (Lev.  19*,  ^»  ;  2322  ;  Deut.  24i»-22)  and 
with  the  rights  of  the  poor  in  general.     Cf.  JE  viii,  617. 

'  See  Abrahams'  Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  chaps,  xi, 
xii  (London,   1896). 


12      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

well  known,  the  Jews  of  modern  times  have  been  mainly 
engaged  in  various  forms  of  trade ;  quite  recently, 
however,  a  gallant  attempt  has  been  made  to  revive 
agriculture    in    the    Jewish    colonies    of    Palestine.^ 

This  influence  of  environment  upon  religious  belief 
and  teaching  is  naturally  as  strong  upon  individuals 
as  upon  communities  ;  and  when  such  individuals  are 
great  teachers  and  leaders  of  men,  the  influence  becomes 
limitless  in  its  workings.  A  striking  instance  from  the 
Bible  may  be  given.  After  Moses,  the  most  notable 
exponents  of  the  religion  of  Israel  were  the  prophets  ; 
but  each  prophet  stamped  his  presentation  of  belief  with 
a  marked  individuality ;  this  is  most  conspicuously 
evident  in  the  prophetic  teaching  on  the  Personality 
of  God,  which  is  the  central  core  of  all  religion.  Each 
prophet  emphasizes  some  special  characteristic  of  God, 
and  the  individuality  of  each  prophet's  teaching  finds 
its  highest  expression  just  in  that  particular  personal 
attribute  of  God  upon  which  he  specially  lays  stress. 
Amos  was  a  shepherd  ;  it  was  a  rough  life  which  he 
led  among  the  wilds  of  Southern  Judaea,  far  from  the 
cultured  centres  of  town  life,  with  its  luxury,  and  sin, 
and  easy-going  belief  in  a  good-natured  God  ^  ;  with  its 
feasting  and  revelling  and  constant  round  of  enjoyment.^ 
To  Amos  life  was  serious  ;  nature,  as  he  saw  it,  was 
stern  ;  and  his  conception  of  the  God  of  nature  was  in 
accordance  with  what  he  saw.  To  him  the  thunder  and 
lightning,  wind,  storm  and  tempest,  which  he  so  often 
witnessed  in  all  their  fierceness  and  awe-inspiring  grandeur 
on  those  lonely  hills,  were  but  manifestations  of  God's 
anger  with  His  sinning  people,  an  anger  which  was 
demanded  because   God  was  just.     And   the   teaching 

»  For  an  illustrated  account  of  these,  English  and  German,  see 
Views  from  Palestine  and  the  Jewish  Colonies  photographed  and 
described  by  J.  Raffalovich  and  M.  E.  Sachs,  published  for  the 
"  Chovevi  Zion  Association  "  in  London  (undated). 

2  Amos  5*^         ^  Amos  G^*'*. 


GREAT  HEBREW   PERSONALITIES         13 

of  Amos  dealt  mainly  with  the  wrath  of  God.  The 
stern,  hard  life,  and  surroundings  of  the  Judaean  herdsman 
were  not  without  their  influence  upon  his  thought,  and 
therefore  upon  his  words  and  teaching.  Or,  to  take 
one  other  instance,  Isaiah,  as  far  as  can  be  gathered, 
was  probably  related  to  the  royal  house,  and  was,  at  any 
rate,  in  frequent  contact  with  the  court  and  king  ;  he 
often  witnessed,  therefore,  earthly  pomp  and  circum- 
stance. Was  it  that  which  first  taught  him  to  think 
about  a  heavenly  court,  and  how  infinitely  greater  God's 
majesty  and  glory  must  be  ?  Certain  it  is  that  he  is  the 
great  exponent  of  the  subhme  majesty  of  God  ;  what 
better  instance  of  this  could  be  referred  to  than  that 
superb  picture  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  his  book,  which 
begins  :  "I  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a  throne,  high 
and  lifted  up,  and  his  train  filled  the  temple." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  later  Judaism  is  destitute 
of  great  personahties  among  its  exponents  and  teachers  ; 
the  contrast  between  Isaiah  and  Maimonides,  or  Moses 
Mendelssohn,  may,  perhaps,  at  first  sight  strike  the 
Christian  reader  with  a  painful  shock  of  surprise,  but, 
all  the  same,  the  latter  loom  very  large  in  the  Jewish 
consciousness,  and  have  exercised  a  profound  and  far- 
reaching  influence  over  Jewish  development.  If  the 
heroes  of  later  Judaism  are  not  of  such  imposing  propor- 
tions, or  cast  in  such  a  heroic  mould  as  the  great  prophets 
of  Israel,  this  but  serves  to  illustrate  the  point  under 
discussion ;  the  latter  times  have  not  exactly  been 
heroic,  the  environment  of  the  Ghetto  has  not  exactly 
been  comparable  in  power  and  possibility  with  the 
free  and  spontaneous  energy  generated  by  political 
independence  and  real  national  existence.^ 

Therefore,  just  as  the  teaching  of  individuals  is 
impressed  and  coloured  by  their  life  and  surroundings, 
so  the  religion  of  a  nation — which  it  has  to  teach  the 
world — is    influenced    by   national    characteristics,    and 

^  See  further  chap,  iii,  §   vii. 


14      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

modified  by  the  varying  conditions  under  which  the 
nation,  or  a  part  of  it,  is  forced  to  hve.  In  the  domain 
of  pure  rehgion  it  will  suffice  to  point  to  two  examples 
of  this.  Reverence  for  the  Tor  ah  (the  Law),^  which  so 
profoundly  modified  Israel's  rehgion  as  taught  by  the 
prophets,  took  its  rise  during  the  Babylonian  Captivity, 
which,  though  at  first  sight  a  time  of  profound  mis- 
fortune, proved  to  be  the  Golden  Age  of  literary  activity. 
Again,  what  is  known  as  the  "  Reform "  Movement 
of  to-day  has  been  mainly  brought  about  by  the  favour- 
able, not  to  say  seductive,  surroundings  in  which  many 
Jews  now  find  themselves. 

II.  The  Semitic  Origin  of  the  Jews. 

The  Jews  belong  to  what  is  called  the  "  northern  " 
branch  of  the  Semitic  race.  The  northern  Semites  com- 
prise the  Babylonians,  Assyrians,  Aramaeans  (Syrians), 
Phoenicians,  Canaanites  (Amorites),  and  the  Israehtes.^ 
The  southern  Semites  include  the  Arabians  and  the 
Abyssinians.  Some  of  these  could  be  subdivided,  but 
it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  these  subdivisions  here. 

The  purest  strain  of  the  Semites  is  to  be  found  among 
the  Bedouin  Arabs  of  Arabia, ^  and,  according  to  a  number 
of  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject,  it  is  Arabia  which 
must  be  regarded  as  the  primeval  home  of  the  Semites. 
The  Arabs  were  a  prolific  race  ;  yet  Arabia  was  a  land 
which  was  by  nature  unable  to  sustain  a  large  population 
for  any  length  of  time.  Only  here  and  there,  at  spots 
where  a  plentiful  and  permanent  supply  of  water  was 
assured,  were  settlements  on  a  large  scale  possible.  The 
land  as  a  whole  lacks  water  and  can  offer  a  lasting  home 

^  See  chap,  iii,  §  i. 

*  The  Phihstines  ought  probably  to  be  included  in  this  branch, 
though  their  Semitic  descent  has  been  denied  by  some  scholars. 

*  The  interesting  observation  has  been  made  more  than  once 
that  it  is  still  possible  to  hear  the  pure  classical  form  of  Arabic 
— the  Arabic  of  the  Koran,  with  full  case-endings,  etc. — spoken 
among  the  Bedouin  of  the  Arabian  steppes. 


EMIGRATIONS   FROM   ARABIA  15 

only  to  the  wandering  Bedouin  herdsmen.  The  surplus 
population,  therefore,  was  being  constantly  thrown  off, 
and  hordes  of  sturdy  country-born  nomads  periodically 
overflowed  into  the  more  cultured  centres,  displacing  to 
a  great  extent  the  occupiers,^  and  being  afterwards  dis- 
placed themselves  by  a  similar  process.  There  was  thus 
a  constant  coming  and  going,  a  giving  and  taking,  a 
periodical  change,  the  town-dwellers  giving  place  to  the 
healthy  and  physically  more  vigorous  country  people 
— a  real  struggle  for  existence.  Probably  as  early  as 
the  fifth  millennium  before  Christ  the  Sumerians  were  to 
a  great  extent  overwhelmed  by  a  huge  wave  of  Semitic 
immigration.  Certainly  in  the  third  millennium,  when 
the  ancient  Babylonian  kingdom  had  become  decayed 
and  rotten,  a  further  wave  of  Semites  moved  out  from 
Arabia  and  wrought  great  changes  in  that  ancient  seat  of 
civilization.  It  was,  too,  at  this  period  that  the  Canaanite 
element  appeared  in  Syria  and  Palestine, ^  while  at  the 
same  time  the  (Semitic  ?)  Hyksos  asserted  themselves  in 
Egypt.  From  the  beginning  of  the  second  millennium 
onwards  numerous  examples  of  the  old  process  are  observ- 
able ;  the  Semitic  nomads  from  northern  Arabia  press 
into  Mesopotamia,  Aramaic  nomads  make  repeated  inroads 
into  the  Babylonian-Assyrian  centres  of  civilization,  the 
Minaeans  wander  southwards,  the  Phcenicians  and  the 
Hebrews  gradually  move  up  along  the  east  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  the  Chaldeans  in  southern  Baby- 
lonia begin  to  show  signs  of  unrest.^  So  that  both  from 
the  earliest  available  historical  data,  as  well  as  from  the 
analogy  of  later  history,  we  are  led  to  regard  Arabia  as 

^  Cf.  a  similar  process  which  took  place  in  Europe  during  the 
fourth  and  following  centuries,  when  Central  Europe  was 
overrun  by  the  Huns. 

-  For  signs  of  the  pre-Scmitic  population  of  Palestine,  see 
PEFQS,  1 902-1 904. 

'  See  O.  Weber,  Avabien  vor  dem  Islam,  in  *'  Der  alte  Orient," 
1901. 


16      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  primeval  home  of  the  Semitic  race.  Thus  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  two  sole  surviving  representatives 
of  the  old  Semitic  populations  are  the  Arabs,  who  still 
maintain  their  primitive  characteristics,  and  the  scattered 
Jewish  communities.^ 

This  fact  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  estimate  we 
form  of  the  modern  Jew.  Though  there  is  every  reason 
to  suppose  that  at  various  times  other  racial  elements 
have  been  absorbed  into  the  Jewish,^  the  Jew  has  re- 
mained and  remains  to-day  essentially  oriental.  Orient- 
alism must  constantly  be  allowed  for  in  judging  not  only 
Jewish  life  and  character,  but  also  all  the  products  of  the 
Jewish  spirit,  including,  of  course,  all  branches  of  its 
literature.  Not  only  the  Old,  but  also  the  New  Testament 
itself  is  very  largely  an  oriental  Hterary  product.  The 
failure  to  allow  for  this  element,  and  give  it  its  due  place, 
has  proved  disastrous  to  much  Christian  exegesis. 


1  The  Semitic  element  among  the  old  Assyro- Babylonian 
population  has  long  since  lost  its  identity  and  become  sub- 
merged in  the  various  movements  and  changes  brought  about  by 
successive  invasions  and  political  changes.  Arabic  influence 
amidst  this  welter  of  vicissitudes  has  left  a  marked  impress  upon 
language  and  culture,  e.g.  Turkish  and  Persian,  and  even 
Hindustani.  It  seems  clear,  on  the  whole,  that  the  genuine 
Jewish  type  has  been  preserved  most  distinctly  where  large 
communities  of  Jews  have  been  isolated  and  artificially  kept 
apart  by  stringent  poUtical  conditions.  The  most  outstanding 
instance  is  perhaps  the  case  of  the  Pohsh  Jews.  The  fact  that  the 
typical  PoUsh- Jewish  physiognomy  shows  marked  points  of  resem- 
blance with  that  of  the  Bedouin  Arab  confirms  the  truth  of  this 
observation  (Cf.  also  the  Israehte  types  preserved  on  Egyptian 
monuments.) 

2  It  is  well  known  that  the  racial  purity  of  the  Jewish  popula- 
tion of  Galilee  was  not  above  suspicion  ;  the  very  name  "  GaUlee 
of  the  Gentiles  "  suggests  that  the  region  so  called  was  the  border- 
land between  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Notice  also  in  the  Gospels 
the  imphed  contempt  of  the  Jerusalem  population  for  the  Galilaean 
accent,  and  provincial  speech,  "  thy  speech  bewrayeth  thee." 
This  is  a  subject  of  jest  (at  the  expense  of  the  Galilaeans)  in  the 
Talmud.  It  should  be  added  that  while  the  provincial  accent 
and  speech  of  the  Apostles  is  referred  to  in  the  Gospels,  no  such 
peculiarity  is  suggested  or  implied  in  the  case  of  our  Lord. 


RACIAL   PURITY  17 

Regarding  the  racial  purity  of  the  Jews  of  Modern 
Europe,  it  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  very  definite  con- 
clusions ;  that  a  certain  amount  of  intermixture  has 
taken  place  is  undeniable  (e.g. ,  marriages  of  Jews  with  non- 
Jewish  women  are  fairly  common)  ;  while  certain  Jewish 
families,  undoubtedly,  have  always  been  very  particular  to 
preserve  the  pure  Israelitish  strain,  more  especially 
priestly  families.^  At  the  same  time,  the  influence  of  a 
non-Jewish  environment,  continued  through  long  cen- 
turies, has  issued  in  surprising  results  even  as  regards 
the  physical  characteristics  of  the  race  ;  examples  of 
distinctively  non- Jewish  types  of  physiognomy  are  by 
no  means  rare  among  the  Jewish  populations  of  Europe. 
An  interesting  controversy,  involving  the  points  referred 
to  above,  took  place  a  few  years  ago  in  England  in  the 
pages  of  the  Jewish  Chronicle  ;  2  one  view  strenuously 
upheld  by  several  eminent  English  Jews,  including  the 
late  Dr.  Singer,  is  that  Judaism  is  not  essentially  an  affair 
of  race,  but  simply  the  profession  of  a  particular  form  of 
creed,  Hke  e.g.,  Roman  Catholicism  as  contrasted  with 
Protestantism  ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  maintained  that 
those  who  profess  this  particular  form  of  creed  are  prac- 
tically, without  exception,  bom  Jews.  A  Jew  is  bom, 
not  made.  A  reference  in  this  connexion  may  be  made 
to  Heine's  bitter  remark  :  "  Judaism  is  not  a  religion, 
but  a  misfortune  !  "  ^ 

III.  The  Racial  Characteristics  of  the  Jews. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  studies  with  regard  to  the 
Jews,  and  one  which  obviously  concerns  their  religion 


1  Many  of  them  treasure  long  and  detailed  genealogies  showing 
pure  Jewish  descent. 

*  See  Jewish  Chronicle   for  October  19,  26,  November  2  and  9, 
1900. 

*  See  further,  on  the  points  above  discussed,  JE,  art.  Anthro- 
pology. 

3— (2417) 


18      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

very  closely,  is  that  of  their  racial  characteristics.     These 
must  be  divided  into  two  classes  : 

i.  Those  that  are  indigenous  to  the  Semitic  race,  and 
ii.  Those  that  have  been  acquired  by  varied  environ- 
ment during  the  last  two  thousand  years  of  their 
history, 
i.  There  is,  first  and  foremost,  what  may  be  termed 
their  Religiousness.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  study 
of  Anthropology  has  revealed  the  fact  that  Religiousness, 
in  varied  form,  is  a  characteristic  common  to  all  races,  even 
the  most  primitive  ;  and  that  no  race  exists  in  which  a 
belief  in  higher,  spiritual  powers  (of  varying  quahties, 
it  is  true)  does  not  play  a  leading  part  in  the  hfe  of  the 
people.  Thus,  for  example,  the  most  primitive  races  in 
existence,  those  namely  of  Central  and  Northern  Australia, 
who  are  still  in  the  Stone  Age,  possess  a  depth  of  religious 
feehng  and  a  store  of  religious  (from  our  point  of  view 
superstitious)  practices,  the  existence  of  which  was 
never  dreamt  of  by  anthropologists  of  a  generation  ago.^ 
But  while  all  early  races  have  this  remarkable  store  of 
religious,  or  superstitious,  belief,  that  of  the  early 
Semites  was  characterized  by  a  loftiness  of  conception 
which,  with  one  exception,  cannot  be  paralleled  by  any 
other  early  race.  The  exception  refers  to  the  Egyptians  ; 
but  even  here  many  scholars  are  disposed  to  believe  that 
the  Egyptians  were  not  wholly  free  from  the  admixture 
of  Semitic  blood  ;  at  any  rate,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
this,  that  it  was  during  the  ascendency  of  the  Hyksos  or 
"  Shepherd  Kings" — who  were,  probably,  Semites — that 

1  See  the  works  of  Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Native  Tribes  of 
Central  Australia  (1899),  The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia 
(1904).  In  the  former  of  these  two  works  magic  and  rehgion  are 
differentiated,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  indicate  precisely  where 
the  dividing  hne  between  the  two  should  be  drawn  ;  what  we 
should  call  magic  is  religion  to  the  savage,  just  as  what  was, 
in  many  cases,  rehgion  to  mediajval  Christians  is  designated 
superstition  by  us  now  ;  and  the  process  may  continue,  for  all 
we  know. 


RELIGIOUSNESS   OF  THE   JEW  19 

the  religious  reform  in  the  direction  of  a  monotheistic 
worship  took  place  in  Egypt. i  Religiousness,  then,  the 
development  of  the  religious  faculty,  was  a  characteristic 
of  the  Semitic  race.  But  there  was  no  branch  of  the  Semitic 
race  in  which  this  religious  faculty  was  more  strikingly 
developed  than  in  the  Hebrew  branch.  The  people  whose 
religion  forms  the  foundation  of  Christianity  and  Moham- 
medanism, ^  the  people  whose  religion  is  the  source  of  that 
of  nearly  half  the  population  of  the  world,  must  be  pecu- 
liarly endowed  with  the  genius  of  religion, — moreover,  a 
people  who  have  given  to  the  world  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  must  needs  standout  as  preeminently  endowed 
with  the  spirit  of  religion.  How  this  people  became  so 
endowed,  whether,  as  we  believe,  through  the  direct  revela- 
tion of  God,  or  whether,  as  many  (including,  strange  to 
say,  not  a  few  Jews)  hold,  it  was  the  result  of  a  natural 
process  of  mental  evolution,  is  not  a  question  that  need 
be  here  discussed  ;  it  is  the  fact  that  now  concerns  us,  and 
of  that  fact  there  is  no  shadow  of  doubt. 

Another  characteristic  (which  the  Semite  shares  with 
the  rest  of  Orientals)  is  a  certain  warmness  of  tempera- 
ment, a  capacity  for  deep  and  strongly  defined  feeling, 
which  differentiates  so  markedly  the  East  from  the 
West.  The  Oriental  exercises  little  or  no  restraint,  as 
a  rule,  over  his  emotional  nature  ;  often  there  is  a  certain 
extravagance  about  his  actions  and  words,  which  to  the 
colder  temperament  of  the  West  must  necessarily  appear 


^  If  it  be  objected,  as  has  not  infrequently  been  done,  that 
the  higher  development  of  religious  feeling  and  belief  was  due 
not  to  racial  characteristic  (i.e.  to  the  divine  implanting)  but  to 
a  more  highly-developed  culture,  one  has  but  to  point  to  the  far 
higher  culture  and  civilization  of  the  peoples  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
who  yet  in  their  religious  beliefs  and  practices  were  not  very 
far  removed  from  the  level  of  the  savage. 

-  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  on  Mount  Sinai  at  the  present  day 
there  stands  a  Christian  Church  in  close  proximity  to  a  Mohamme- 
dan mosque — the  living  picture  of  a  striking,  but  often  forgotten, 
truth. 


20      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

eccentric,  not  to  say  grotesque.  This  nowhere  emerges 
more  clearly  than  in  the  literature  ;  luxuriant  verbiage, 
hyperbole,  fantastic  imagery  are  the  natural  modes  of 
expression  indulged  in  by  an  Eastern  writer  when  he  is 
writing  fully  and  without  constraint ;  when  this  quality 
is  reduced  (as  it  is  reduced,  though  by  no  means  elimin- 
ated, in  the  sacred  literature  of  Israel)  this  fact  must  be 
accounted  for  by  the  moderating  and  restraining  influence 
of  pure  religious  ideas. ^  No  Easterns  have  ever  displayed 
these  characteristics  in  more  pronounced  form  than  the 
Jews  and  Arabs.  The  classical  examples  of  religious  fana- 
ticism are  to  be  found  among  members  of  these  two 
branches  of  the  Semitic  race  (cf.,  for  example.  Rabbi 
Akiba,and  the  prophet  Mohammed).  And  this  is  equally 
true  of  the  Jews  and  Arabs  of  the  present  time  ;  one  has 
but  to  watch  a  typical  Semite,  whether  he  be  a  foreign 
Jew  living  in  the  East  End  of  London  or  a  Mullah  in  the 
Soudan,  speak  on  any  subject  that  really  interests  him,  and 
observe  the  varying  facial  expression,  the  flashing  eyes  and 
animated  gestures,  to  reahze  at  once  how  easily  the  fanati- 
cal spirit  can  be  kindled  in  that  excitable  temperament. 


1  To  anyone  who  reads  the  New  Testament  (especially  the 
Gospels)  with  open  eyes,  the  characteristic  marks  of  orientaUsm 
are  patent  ;  at  the  same  time  in  no  other  branch  of  Semitic 
literature  is  the  restraining  influence  of  high  religious  ideas  more 
pronounced.  One  has  but  to  contrast  the  Canonical  Gospels, 
on  the  one  hand,  with  the  Apocryphal,  on  the  other  hand,  and  with 
Rabbinical  writings,  to  see  how  markedly  the  New  Testament 
product  [is  distinguished  by  its  sobriety  and  sweet  reasonableness  ; 
and  this  is  above  all  true  of  our  Lord  as  a  teacher  when  the 
accounts  of  Him  and  His  words  are  compared  with  those  of 
typical  Jewish  Rabbis  :  "  He  spake  as  one  having  authority  and 
not  as  the  scribes,"  Matt.  7".  A  good  instance  of  His  method 
in  deahng  with  a  question  of  Law  {Halakah)  occurs  in  S.  Mark 
7  1-23.  ;  the  direct  statements  here  made  contrast  forcibly  with 
the  regular  Rabbinical  methods  of  formal  teaching  on  matters 
of  binding  law  ;  if  a  Rabbi  gave  an  "  halakic  "  decision  he  would 
think  it  necessary  to  base  the  conclusion  on  Scriptural  authority, 
which  would  be  reached  by  an  elaborate  and  complicated  use  of 
texts  interpreted  according  to  Rabbinical  rules  of  exegesis. 


OPTIMISM  21 

The  highest  manifestation  of  this  temperament  is  of  course 
a  disciphned  faith,  the  lowest  an  unrestrained  and  narrow 
fanaticism.  As  illustrations  of  the  rise  to  boihng-point 
of  the  fanatical  ^  spirit  among  the  Jews  may  be  cited  the 
Maccabaean  revolt,  the  rise  of  the  "  Zealots,"  followed 
by  the  first  (a.d.  70)  and  the  second  (a.d.  132-135)  revolts 
against  Rome ;  and,  in  modern  times,  the  Zionist  Move- 
ment ;  among  the  Arabs,  the  Mohammedan  propaganda, 
which  in  the  pride  of  its  early  strength  overwhelmed  the 
East,  and  then  all  but  succeeded  in  overwhelming  the 
West.2 

Closely  connected  with  the  quality  that  has  been  dis- 
cussed, and,  in  fact,  one  of  its  manifestations,  is  the  optim- 
istic temperament  which  at  all  crises  of  their  history,  and 
not  least  during  the  Christian  centuries,  has  proved  one 
of  the  most  priceless  possessions  of  the  Jewish  people. ^ 
In  face  of  the  dire  persecutions  that  have  from  time  to 
time  been  inflicted  on  them  in  Christian  Europe  they 
have  ever  exhibited  a  brave  front  ;  unquenchable  hope 
has  always  characterized  them.^  A  pathetic  example  of 
this  deep-seated  optimistic  feeling  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
watchword  with  which  Jews  cheer  one   another  at  the 


1  "  Fanatical  "  is  here  meant  to  include  the  best  sense  of  the 
term. 

'  The  great  victory,  won  by  Charles  Martel  at  Tours  in 
729,  stemmed  the  tide  of  Arab  invasion  in  the  West,  and  saved 
Western  Christendom.  The  Moors  were  not  finally  driven  out 
of  Spain  till  1492.     Constantinople  fell  to  the  Turks  in  1453. 

'  "  This,  too,  is  for  the  best "  was  the  favourite  saying  of  one  of 
the  most  venerated  Rabbis  who  figure  in  the  Talmud,  not  in  any 
spirit  of  meek  resignation  or  morbid  fataUsm,  but  in  the  spirit  of 
incurable  optimism.  With  optimism  came  cheerfulness  which 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  virtues.  See  Montague,  Tales 
from  the  Talmud,  p.  231   {i9o6).i 

*  In  fact,  persecution  has  but  served  to  show  them  at  their 
best,  it  has  (under  God)  refined  and  strengthened  the  racial  type, 
though  nothing  can  avail  to  excuse  or  palliate  the  savagery 
that  often  marked  such  outbursts  of  unchristian  passion.  The 
bitter  fruits  have  been  hatred  and  mutual  contempt  and 
misunderstanding,  which  even  yet  have  not  been  fully  removed. 


22      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

close  of  the  annual  Passover  Feast  :    "  Next  year  in 
Jerusalem." 

ii.     Acquired  characteristics. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  main  determining 
cause  in  the  evolution  of  what  may  be  called  acquired 
Jewish  characteristics  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
dispersed  Jewish  communities  have  at  various  times  been 
subjected  to  persecutions  from  without.  This  is,  of  course, 
specially  true  of  the  Jews  in  Europe,  but  it  is  also  true,  in 
a  less  degree,  of  Jewish  communities  in  the  East. 

The  net  result,  on  the  whole,  of  persecution  has  been 
to  consolidate  the  race — a  result  which  has  both  a  good 
and  a  bad  side. 

Perhaps  the  most  valuable  quality  developed  under 
these  conditions,  and  one  that  deserves  the  first  mention 
is  Perseverance.  In  the  exercise  of  this  racial  trait,  the 
Jews  offer  an  example  to  all  the  world.  Their  perse- 
verance, as  could  be  proved  by  hundreds  of  instances, 
is  indomitable  ;  the  greater  the  obstacle,  the  keener  is  the 
resolve  to  overcome.  There  are  many  interesting  examples 
on  record  of  the  various  stages  "  westwards,"  through 
which  the  persevering  Jew  of  the  East  End  has  passed, 
and  eventually  settled  down  in  the  West  End  of  London. 
The  motive  underlying  his  desire  may  often  be  an  unworthy 
one,  but  that  means  that  a  good  characteristic  has  been 
used  for  a  bad  purpose,  for  success  is,  certainly  in  most 
cases,  due  to  perseverance.^  But  good  qualities  have  only 
too  frequently  their  bad  counterpart,  and  it  will  not  be  dis- 
puted that  the  persevering  Jew  can  also  be  obstinate,  and 
iilled  with  egotism  and  impregnable  conceit ;  this  makes 
him  sometimes  difficult,  and  even  disagreeable,  to  deal 
with,  not  only  for  Christians,  but  also  for  his  fellow-Jews. 


^  Nobler  examples  of  the  same  quality  could  easily  be  cited, 
e.g.,  the  progress  of  the  young  Jew,  devoted  to  learning,  from  a 
Polish  Ghetto  to  some  distinguished  position  in  the  Academic 
world,  is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  event. 


JEWISH   DISABILITIES  23 

And  this  leads  us  to  touch  upon  a  characteristic,  which 
to  the  ordinary  Christian  is  the  Jewish  characteristic 
par  excellence,  viz.  Business  Capacity/ — though  it  is 
true,  under  "  business,"  so  far  as  Jews  are  concerned, 
the  ordinary  Christian  too  often  understands  money- 
lending,  and  selHng  old  clothes  !  It  is  interesting  to 
inquire  what  basis  of  fact  underlies  this  estimate.  It 
arose  through  the  action  of  the  Church  during  the  Middle 
Ages  towards  the  Jews  ;  restrictions  on  practically  every 
handicraft  and  on  almost  every  trade  in  which  Jews  sought 
to  engage  were  in  force.  In  the  "  Ordinance  of  Vallad- 
olid,"  drawn  up  in  1412,  one  may  see  of  what  kind  these 
restrictions  were ;  Jews  were  prohibited  from  selhng 
bread,  wine,  flour,  oil  or  butter  in  the  markets  ;  they 
were  not  allowed  to  practise  carpentering,  tailoring  or 
shoemaking,  and  they  were  strictly  forbidden  to  employ 
or  be  employed  by  Christians  in  any  trade  whatsoever. 
In  other  parts  of  Europe  these  restrictions  were  enforced 
even  more  rigidly  than  in  Spain.  In  England  money- 
lending  was  absolutely  the  only  profession  open  to  a  Jew.^ 
Can  one  wonder  that  the  habit  of  centuries  should  have 
become  second  nature  to  the  descendants  of  many  Jews  ? 
It  is,  certainly  in  part,  due  to  this  treatment  that  the 
"  sharp  practice  "  of  the  Jew  has  become  proverbial. 
Once  more,  it  may  perhaps  be  due  to  the  contrast 
between  the  restrictions  of  the  past  and  the  complete 
liberty  of  action  (at  all  events  in  England  and  America) 
now  enjoyed,  that  accounts  for  the  disagreeable  self-asser- 
tivcness,  and  love  of  ostentation  which  are  characteristic 
of  a  certain  type  of  Jew  ;    it  is  but  fair,   however,  to 


^  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose,  however,  that  all  Jews  have  great 
business  capacity  ;  there  are  large  numbers  of  Jews  living  in 
deep  poverty. 

2  See  Abrahams'  Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  London,  1896  ; 
Jacob's  The  Jews  of  Angevin  England,  London,  1893  ;  and  Select 
Pleas,  Starrs  and  Records  of  the  Jewish  Exchequer,  edited  for  the 
Selden  Society  by  J.  M.  Rigg,  London,   1901. 


24      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

remember  that  these  quaUties  are  not  met  with  in  the 
best  types  ;  they  are  but  too  obvious  in  the  fairly  pros- 
perous West-End  Jew/  but  not  in  the  hard-working, 
genuine  son  of  Abraham  of  the  East  End. 

Lastly,  there  is  a  characteristic,  partly  indigenous,  no 
doubt,  but  also  to  a  great  extent  acquired,  which  is  best 
expressed  by  the  word  Exclusiveness.  This  received  an 
immense  impulse  (and  stereotyped  what  had,  no  doubt, 
been  prevalent  long  before)  at  the  time  of  Ezra  ;  it  was 
fostered,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  national  consciousness 
of  two  things  :  firstly,  the  conviction  that,  as  a  nation, 
they  were  the  particular  favourites  of  Heaven  ;  and, 
secondly,  because  they  possessed  a  code  of  morals  which 
was,  beyond  all  question,  infinitely  purer  and  more 
exalted  than  that  of  any  other  nation.  It  was  but  natural 
that  this  should  engender  a  sense  of  superiority,  and 
therefore  of  exclusiveness  ;  at  the  time  of  Ezra  this  mental 
attitude  became  enhanced  by  a  fanatical  and  ever-increas- 
ing devotion  to  the  Torah  (Law),  and  long  before  the 
advent  of  Christ  it  had  become  crystalHzed  into  a  settled 
national  trait,  which,  later  on,  the  antagonism  between 
the  Christian  and  the  Jewish  Church  only  served  to 
emphasize.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  Jews  shows 
how  persecution  still  further  increased  their  attachment 
to  the  Law,  and  hardened  them  in  their  feelings  towards 
all  non-Jews.  That  this  feeling  of  exclusiveness  is  by  no 
means  non-existent  at  the  present  day  is  obvious  enough 
to  anyone  who  comes  much  in  contact  with  Jews  ;  at 
the  same  time,  it  will  not  be  denied  that,  at  any  rate  in 
England,  the  last  decade  or  two  has  seen  a  great  improve- 
ment in  the  general  feeling  of  Jews  towards  Christians 
and  Christianity. 

It  remains,  in  conclusion,  to  emphasize  another  quality 
acquired  by  the  Jewish  race  as  a  result  of  its  dispersion  and 
the  vicissitudes  thereon  ensuing — its  cosmopolitan  character. 

»  Corruptio  optimi  pessima  ! 


COSMOPOLITANISM  25 

While  calling  no  land  his  own  (outside  Palestine)  the  Jew 
is  at  home  in  all  lands.  Historically,  this  fact  has  been  of 
great  importance,  inasmuch  as  to  it  is  largely  due  the  fact 
that  avenues  of  intercourse  and  trade  have  been  opened  up, 
or  enlarged,  between  different  countries  and  regions  of  the 
world.  The  Jew  in  this  capacity  has  also  been  not  merely 
a  purveyor  of  wares,  but  also  of  ideas,  ^  and  has  thus  served 
in  a  large  measure  to  disseminate  and  to  stimulate  some 
of  the  most  important  results  of  culture  and  civilization 
(especially  medicine).  With  its  vast  experience  of  the 
world,  the  Jewish  race  has  never  failed  to  produce  men 
of  great  versatility  and  accomplishment,  who  have 
often  attained  distinguished  positions  in  diplomacy  and 
government,  as  well  as  in  art  and  science.  The  qualities 
which  make  for  success  in  these  departments  of  life — a 
certain  flexibihty  and  power  of  assimilating  all  that  is 
best  in  an  environment — are  the  natural  acquirement 
of  "  the  Wandering  Jew." 


Cf.  Abrahams',  op.  cit.,  p.   211   ff. 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  Sources  of  Judaism. 
I.    The  Torah   and   other  Old   Testament  Books. 

The  Torah  {"  Law  ")  ;  the  Prophets  ;  the  "  Writings."— The 
Apocrypha  :  Historical  and  Pseudo-Historical  Books  ;  Prophetic 
Apocrypha  ;  Didactic  Apocrypha  ;  Apocalyptic  Literature  in  the 
Apocrypha.— Pseudepigrapha  :  Pseudepigraphic  Legends  ;  Pseude- 
pigraphic  Poetry ;  Didactic  Pseudepigraph ;  Pseudepigraphic 
Apocalypses.— Rejection  of  Pseudepigrapha  by  Pharisaic  Judaism. 

[Literature  : — Ryle  The  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament,  especi- 
ally chaps,  iv-viii  (1892).  J.  Fiirst  Der  Kanon  des  A.T. 
nach  den  Ueberlieferungen  im  Talmud  und  Midrasch 
(1868).  Marx  (Dalman)  Traditio  Rabhinontm  Veterrimv 
(1884).  W.  Robertson  Smith  The  Old  Testament  in 
the  Jewish  Church,  Lectures  ii,  iii,  vi  (1895).  Schurer 
The  Jewish  people  in  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ  II,  i,  25 
(1893),  and  the  various  articles  which  deal  with  the 
subject  in  Hamburger's  RE.  Cornill  Introduction  to  the 
Canonical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament  (Enghsh  Trans. 
G.  H.  Box),  pp.  463  ff-   (1907)-] 

The  first  source  of  the  religion  of  the  Synagogue  is,  of 
course,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.^  These  the 
Hebrews  divided  into  three  parts  : 

(a)  The  "  Law  "  or  Torah,  i.e.,  the  five  books  of  Moses. 
\h)  The  "  Prophets  "    or  Nehiim,,  comprising  : 

The  "  Former  Prophets  "  or  Nehiim  nshonim,  i.e., 
the  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  i.  2.  Samuel,  1.2. 
Kings  ; 
The  "Latter  Prophets"  or  Nehiim  acharonim,  i.e., 
the  books  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and 
the  twelve  Minor  Prophets,  reckoned  as  one  book. 

1  Known  also  by  the  name  of  Tenach,  i.e.,  TNK,  an  abbrevia- 
tion formed  by  the  initial  letters  of  the  names  of  the  three  divi- 
sions into  which  the  Jews  divide  the  Bible,  (Torah,  Nebiim  and 
i^ethubim.) 


IMPORTANCE   OF  THE    "  TORAH  "     27 

(c)  The  "  Writings  "  or  Kethuhim,  comprising  : 

Psalms,    Proverbs,  Job  ;    these    form    a   separate 

group  ; 

Song  of  Songs,  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes 

and  Esther ;     these   form   another  group,   and 

are    technically  known    as  the    five   "  Scrolls " 

or  Megilloth} 

Daniel,    Ezra,    Nehemiah,    i.  2.  Chronicles   make 

up  a  third  group  in  this  division. 

It  is  the  first  of  these  three  divisions,  the  Torah,  which 

is  the  main  source  of  the   Jewish   Religion,   the   other 

two  occupying  in  reality  quite  a  subordinate  position  ; 

in  fact,  the  "  Prophets  "    and  the  "  Writings  "    are  even 

called  mere  "  Tradition  "    {Kabbalah),  in  contrast  with 

the   "  Law."     On   the   other  hand,   the   term    Torah  is 

sometimes  used  in  a  wide  sense  to  include  the  whole  of 

the  Old  Testament,  and  even  the  whole  body  of  religious 

truth   and  practice.     In  both  cases  the  Jew  conceives 

of  the   Torah  as   the   dominating,   the   supreme   factor. 

The  Torah  (i.e.,  the  "  Law  "  of  God  as  contained  in 

the   Pentateuch  2)   is,  therefore,  the   real  foundation  of 

the  Jewish   Religion  ;    and,   as  will  be  seen  below,   it 

provided  the  basis,  in  the  form  of  text  and  commentary, 

of    popular    Jewish    Homiletics^     (See    further    on    the 

Torah,  chap.  vii.). 

II.    Extra-Canonical  Sacred  Books. 

[Literature  : — Schiirer  Op.  cit.  II,  iii ;  the  articles  "  Apocalyp- 
tic Literature,"  "  Apocrypha  "  in  the  JE,  EB  and 
in  Hamburger's  RE  ;  for  the  voluminous  literature 
on  Ecclesiasticus,  the  Hebrew  text,  etc.,  see  the  art. 
"Sirach  "  in  Hastings'  DB ;  the  most  recent  commentary 

1  The  five  Megilloth  are  especially  important  because  they  are 
assigned,  for  reading,  to  certain  Feast  Days  (and  one  Fast  Day), 
viz.,  Passover,  Weeks,  9th  of  Ab,  Tabernacles  and  Purim. 

2  Popularly  known  as  Chummesh,  "  Fifth  "  (in  full,  Chamish- 
shah  Chummesh  Torah,  "  the  five-fifths  of  the  law,"),  in  reference 
to  the  five  Books  of  Moses. 

3  See  further  below,  under  "  Midrash,"  ch.  iv,  §  ii. 


28      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

on  this  book  is  that  of  Smend  (2  vols.),  1906. 
The  Speaker's  Commentary  on  the  Apocrypha  (2  vols,). 
London,  1888.  Die  Apokryphen  und  Pseudepigraphen 
des  A.T.  (2  vols.),  ed.  Kautsch,  1900.  The  various 
editions  of  apocalyptic  books  edited  by  Prof.  Charies. 
A  complete  list  and  description  of  the  literature  is 
appearing  in  the  various  numbers  of  The  International 
Journal  of  Apocrypha  (with  which  is  incorporated 
Deutero-Canonica),  edited  by  H.  Pentin.  For  fuller 
information  on  the  separate  books,  see  the  arts,  in  the 
Dictionaries  mentioned  above,  s.v.  the  names  of  the 
various  books,  e.g.,  Tobit,  Baruch,  etc.] 


A.    APOCRYPHA. 

The  idea  of  canonicity  is  expressed  in  Rabbinical 
language  by  the  phrase  "  defile  the  hands."  Books  of 
canonical  dignity  are  said  to  "  defile  the  hands  "  (Heb. 
Metammeim  'eth  ha-ydddim).  Those  which  fall  outside 
this  category,  of  course,  do  not  "  defile  the  hands."  This 
expression  impHes  that  the  holiness  of  the  sacred  object 
referred  to  produces  by  contact  with  it  a  state  of  levitical 
impurity.  The  expression  "  to  hide  "  (Heb.  lignoz)  is 
also  used  with  reference  to  certain  books  of  the  Bible, 
which,  though  canonical,  were  withdrawn,  for  various 
reasons,  from  public  hturgical  use.  The  term  Genizdh 
is  applied  to  a  room  in  the  synagogue  set  apart  for  storing 
disused  manuscripts  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  ^  which 
had  been  employed  in  public  worship  and  which  could 
not  be  destroyed.-  The  questions  raised  in  the  Talmud 
as  to  the  canoijicity  of  certain  books  only  concern  those 
of  the  Old  Testament  which  were  ultimately  admitted 
into  the  Canon.  For  example,  in  Shahbath  30'' 
we  read  of  an  attempt  to  condemn  as  heretical,  i.e.,  "  to 
hide "     [lignoz),    Ecclesiastes   and    Proverbs,    and   even 


1  In  the  Genizdh  were  also  placed  heretical  Hebrew  books,  so 
that  it  served  "  the  two-fold  purpose  of  preserving  good  things 
from  harm  and  bad  things  from  harming."  JE,  v.  612. 

2  They  were  sometimes  buried  with  a  Rabbi  in  his  grave. 


THE   ALEXANDRINE   CANON  29 

the  book  of  Ezekiel  has  not  always  been  above  suspicion 
{Shahbath  13^1) 

But  the  canon  accepted  in  Alexandria  included  a 
number  of  other  books  which  were  rejected  by  the 
Palestinians,  though  some  of  these  books  had  been 
originally  written  in  Palestine  ;  these  are  the  so-called 
Apocrypha^,  which  under  this  title  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  Enghsh  Bible.  Of  these  "  apocryphal  "  books 
one  is  distinctively  Alexandrine  throughout,  viz.,  the 
Book  of  Wisdom,  a  Greek  composition  ;  of  the  rest,  the 
most  distinctively  Palestinian  in  character  are  the  first 
book  of  Maccabees  and  Ecclesiasticus  ("  The  Wisdom  of 
Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach "),  both  written  in  Hebrew 
originally.  The  Hebrew  text  of  Ecclesiasticus,  as  is  well 
known,  has  recently  been  almost  entirely  recovered 
and  made  the  subject  of  an  extensive  hterature. 

With  regard  to  the  value  of  these  books  as  "  Sources  " 
of  Judaism,  the  last  two  mentioned  are  of  special  im- 
portance ;  the  first  book  of  Maccabees  has  a  certain 
authority  in  connection  with  the  Feast  of  Dedication  » 
[Chanukkah),  while  Ecclesiasticus  is  also  a  document  of 
high  value  for  Palestinian  Judaism  ;  it  is  referred  to 
sometimes  in  the  Talmud,  and  was  apparently  excluded 
from  the  canon  only  because  it  was  known  to  be  a  recent 
work  (comparatively  speaking)  by  an  author  not  long  dead. 
The  whole  Apocryphal  collection  has  a  distinct  illus- 
trative value  for  the  study  of  Judaism,  as  well  as  for 

\  JE,  V.  612.  See  further  a  most  interesting  discussion  in 
H61scher i^awontscA  undApokryph,  Leipzig,  1905,  noticed  at  length 
in  the  Review  of  Theol.  and  Philosophy,  Vol.  II.  pp.  549  ff.  March, 
1907. 

*  The  word  is  really  a  Greek  equivalent  of  Genizah. 

»  It  is  also  known  as  the  "  Feast  of  the  Maccabees,"  having 
been  instituted  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  and  his  brothers  (see  i 
Mace.  4,  36,  59).  Josephus  speaks  of  it  as  the  "  Festival  of 
Lights  "(Antiq.  XII,  vii,  7),  on  account  of  the  lighting  of  lamps 
which  formed  a  prominent  part  of  the  ceremony  (cf.  the  modern 
Chanukkah  "  lamp  ").  In  the  Talmud  it  is  called  the  "  Feast 
of  Illumination."     (See  further  ch.  xix.) 


30      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

that  of  the  New  Testament.  Such  subjects,  for  example, 
as  the  Jewish  doctrines  of  sin,  works  and  free-will,  and 
the  future  life,  cannot  be  adequately  studied  without  of 
reference  to  the  Apocryphal  books. 

Though  no  entirely  satisfactory  system  of  classification 
has  yet  been  devised,  the  books  forming  the  Apocrypha 
of  our  Bibles  may  be  classified  as  follows  : — 


a.    HISTORICAL  AND  PSEUDO-HISTORICAL 
BOOKS. 

(i)  I  Maccabees,  containing,  on  the  whole,  a  thoroughly  trust- 
worthy history  ;  it  was  written  originally  in  Hebrew,  but 
is  extant  only  in  Greek,  and  in  translations  made  from 
the  Greek.  It  gives  the  story  of  the  Maccabaean  revolt 
down  to  the  death  of  Simon,  thus  covering  the  period 
175-135   B.C. 

(2)  2  Maccabees,  A  Greek  work,  ostensibly  abridged  from  a 
larger  work  in  five  books  by  Jason  of  Cyrene.  It  partly 
covers  tlie  same  ground  as  i  Maccabees,  but  is  much  inferior 
to  this  in  historical  value. 

(3)  I  Esdras  (in  the  Latin  Bible  3  Esdras)  ;  this  is  really 
a  part  of  the  ancient  Greek  version  of  Chronicles  (in  its 
complete  form  including  Ezra  and  Nehemiah).  It  con- 
tains I  Chron.  35— Neh.  8",  but  in  a  divergent  order 
from  that  of  the  canonical  book,  and,  in  some  respects,  a 
more  original  order.  The  book  contains  some  additions  ; 
it  is  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the  official  Vulgate  after 
the  New  Testament,  but  is  not  recognized  by  the  Roman 
Church  as  canonical. 

(4)  The  Additions^  to  Daniel;  firstly,  the  "Story  of 
Susannah,"  prefixed  to  the  book  of  Daniel  ;  it  is  really 
a  Midrash  based  on  the  meaning  of  the  name  "  Daniel  " 
{  =  "  God  is  my  Judge  "),  and  designed  to  illustrate  Daniel's 
judicial  acumen.  Secondly,  the  "  Destruction  of  Bel  and 
the  Dragon,"  appended  after  chap,  xii  ;  the  motive  of 
this  writing  was  a  polemical  one  against  idolatry.  And 
lastly,  the  "  Song  of  the  three  holy  children,"  inserted  in 
Dan.  iii,  between  verses  23  and  24  ;  it  is  perhaps  a  hturgi- 
cal  piece.  All  three  additions  are  found  in  the  Septuagint 
and  in  Theodotion's  (Greek)  version  of  Daniel. 

1  It  will  be  understood  that  all  these  additions  form  integral 
parts  of  Daniel  in  the  Greek  Bible,  as  well  as  in  the  Vulgate  ;  in 
the  latter  they  stand  in  a  different  position,  however,  from  that 
given  to  them  in  the  Greek  text. 


THE   APOCRYPHA  31 

(5)  The  Additions  i  to  Esther  ("  The  rest  of  Esther  ")  ;  the 
prime  object  of  these  additions  is  to  reheve  the  canonical 
book  of  Esther  from  its  too  pronouncedly  secular  tone. 

(6)  The  Prayer  of  Manasses  ;  this  purports  to  be  the  actual 
prayer  spoken  of  in  2  Chron.  xxxiii  i  ff.,  and  may  origi- 
nally have  been  designed  to  stand  in  that  context.  In 
many  MSS.  of  the  Greek  Bible,  it  occupies  a  place  among 
the  pieces  appended  to  the  Psalms.  In  the  Vulgate  it  is 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  New  Testament  with  3,  4  Esdras 
and,  like  them,  is  not  regarded  as  canonical. 

(7)  Judith ;  this  was  originally  written  in  Hebrew,  but  is  extant 
only,  in  its  longer  form,  in  Greek  or  in  translations  from 
the  Greek.  Two  recensions  of  the  story,  a  longer  and  a 
shorter,  have  come  down  to  us  ;  the  shorter  recension 
exists  only  in  Hebrew. 2  The  story  in  its  shorter  form 
may  be  historical. 

(8)  Tohit.  An  edifying  tale,  with  vivid  pictures  of  Jewish 
piety  and  popular  superstition.  The  scene  is  laid  in  the 
East,  in  Nineveh  and  Ecbatana.  It  is  related  to  the 
wide-spread  story  of  Achikar.' 

(9)  In  MSS.  of  the  Septuagint  the  book  3  Maccabees  is  found  ; 
it  contains  a  history  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Egyptian 
Jews  by  Ptolemy  Philopator,  with  an  account  of  their 
steadfastness  and  of  their  wonderful  deliverance  by  God. 
The  book  is  not  canonical  in  any  part  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

b.  PROPHETIC  APOCRYPHA. 

(i)  Bariich  (Five  chapters)  ;  this  book  purports  to  have  been 
written  by  Baruch,  the  son  of  Neraiah,  a  disciple  of 
Jeremiah,  after  the  deportation  to  Babylon.  It  is  largely 
drawn  from  the  Canonical  Jeremiah  and  Deutero-Isaiah  ; 
the  influence  of  the  Wisdom  literature  is  also  apparent 
in  chap.   3. 

(2)  The  Epistle  of  Jeremiah;  written  to  the  Babylonian 
exiles  ;  it  is  appended  to  Baruch,  and  is  reckoned  as  the 
the  sixth  chapter  of  that  book.  It  is  a  satirical  piece 
directed  against  idolatry. 

c.  DIDACTIC  APOCRYPHA. 

(i)  The  Wisdom  of  Jesus,  the  son  of  Sirach.     This  work  is 

^  See  note  to  Additions  to  Daniel.  In  the  Vulgate  the  Esther 
additions  have  been  separated  from  the  body  of  the  canonical 
Hebrew  Esther  and  brought  together  in  the  form  of  an  appendix, 
with  a  note  to  the  effect  that  they  are  not  found  in  the  Hebrew. 

2  See  the  text  and  translation  published  by  Dr.  Gaster  in 
PSBA,   1894,  pp.    156-163. 

*  See  further  The  Story  of  Achikar,  edited  by  F.  C.-Conybeare, 
J.  Rendel  Harrison,  and  Agnes  Smith-Lewis,  London,  1S98. 


32      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

called  Ecclesiasticus  in  the  Latin  Bible.  It  is  modelled 
on  the  canonical  book  of  Proverbs.  The  author,  a  native 
of  Jerusalem,  wrote  in  Hebrew  ;  this  Hebrew  text  was 
translated  by  his  grandson,  in  B.C.  132,  into  Greek.  The 
Syriac  version  was  also  made  from  the  Hebrew  text. 
Recently  large  portions  of  the  Hebrew  original  have  been 
recovered.  The  book  is  of  immense  importance  for  the 
study  of  pre-Christian  Judaism,  and  indeed  for  the  study 
of  biblical  literature  and  religion  generally.  Though  not 
canonical  it  is  largely  quoted  in  later  Jewish  literature.  1 
(2)  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon  ;  written  in  Greek,  probably  an 
Alexandrine  work,  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable  pro- 
ducts of  the  "  Wisdom  "  Literature.  It  shows  marked 
traces  of  Greek  philosophical  influence,  for  example,  it 
upholds  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as 
distinct  from  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

d.  APOCALYPTIC  LITERA  TURE  IN  THE  APOCRYPHA . 
Only  one  representative  of  the  voluminous  apocalyptic 
literature  is  included  in  the  official  Apocrypha  of  the  Old 
Testament,  viz.,  2  (4)  Esdras.  It  was  originally  written 
in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic  about  90  a.d.  ;  it  is  strongly  influ- 
enced by  the  book  of  Daniel  ;  in  character  it  is  Palestinian. 
The  figure  of  the  Messiah,  both  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly, 
appears  in  really  definite  form  in  this  book  alone  among 
those  of  the  ofiicial  Apocrypha.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  of 
the  Apocalypses. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  books  of  our  Apocrypha 
are  not  accepted  by  the  official  Judaism  of  the  Talmud, 
but  some  of  the  books  have  always  been  recognized  as 
more  or  less  orthodox  even  from  the  strict  Jewish  stand- 
point, namely,  Ecclesiasticus,  Tobit,  Judith  and  Maccabees. 
Though  uncanonical,  they  were  "  allowed,"  and  were  not 
included  among  the  "  external  books  "  (i.e.,  books  of  a 
heretical  character  which  are  uncanonical),  the  reading 
of  which  is  so  strictly  forbidden  by  Rabbi  Akiba 
{Sanhedrin  x,  i). 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  by  the   "  external 

1  Numerous  points  of  contact  between  the  books  of  Ecclesias- 
ticus and  Wisdom  and  the  New  Testament  have  been  pointed  out 
in  the  Ep.  of  S.  James  ;  see  R.  J.  Knowling's  Commentary  on  this 
epistle,  especially  the  notes  on  pp.  xv,  xvi,  and  compare  Eder- 
sheim  in  the  "  Speaker's  Commentary"  on  the  Apocrypha,  Vol. 
II,  p.  22,  also  Farrar  in  the  same  work,  Vol.  I,  p.  408. 


PSEUDEPIGRAPHA  33 

books  "  mentioned  in  early  Rabbinical  literature  were 
understood  all  apocryphal  books  indiscriminately  ;  the 
term  only  included  heretical  apocryphal  books.  Un- 
canonical  books  like  the  four  just  mentioned  were,  and 
were  regarded  as,  good  orthodox  Jewish  literature. 

B.    PSEUDEPIGRAPHA . 

Under  this  title  are  included  writings  with  false  ascrip- 
tions of  authorship.  The  Pseudepigrapha  of  the  Old 
Testament  embrace  a  series  of  writings  considerably 
more  extensive  than  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha  proper. 
Indeed,  the  distinction  between  the  two  classes  of  litera- 
ture implied  by  the  common  use  of  the  term  "  Apocrypha" 
to  denote  a  specified  number  of  deuterocanonical  books 
is  an  arbitrary  and  artificial  one.  It  is  due  to  S.  Jerome. 
Originally  the  term  "  Apocrypha  "(  =  "  hidden,"  "secret") 
denoted  the  secret  books  or  teaching  current  among 
certain  religious  or  philosophic  sects.  The  term  is 
neither  specifically  Jewish  nor  Christian  to  start  with  ; 
in  the  first  instance  it  was  used  by  the  writers  of  the 
books  themselves,  not  as  a  term  of  reproach,  but  of 
distinction.  In  this  wider  sense  it  naturally  included 
the  books  now  described  as  Pseudepigraphic.  In  the 
early  centuries  of  Christianity,  down  to  about  200  a.d., 
many  of  the  apocalyptic  books  which  were  described 
under  the  general  term  "  Apocrypha  "  (e.g.,  the  book 
of  Enoch)  were  highly  regarded  in  Christian  circles ; 
later,  in  the  third  century,  a  change  took  place,  when, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Greek  Church,  the  oriental 
element  in  ancient  Christianity  was,  by  gradual  steps, 
largely  eliminated  ^  ;  under  this  influence  much  of  the 
apocryphal  (apocalyptic)  literature  disappeared  from 
general  orthodox  use. 

The  works  described  by  the  general  term  "  Pseudepi- 
grapha "     are    mainly    apocalyptic    in    character.     The 

»  Cf.  Prof.  Burkitt's  very  instructive  book  Early  Eastern 
Christianity,  London,   1904. 

4  — (2417) 


34      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

apocalyptic  literature  is  distinguished  broadly  by  some 
common,  general  characteristics. 

It  is,  first  of  all,  a  popular  Hterature  ;  that  is  to  say, 
it  reflects  (in  literary  form  more  or  less  elaborated)  the 
thoughts  of  religious  circles  which  were  outside  the 
recognized  Rabbinical  schools  ;  and  it  embodies  religious 
ideas  which  in  many  points  conflicted  sharply  with 
the  strict  scholastic  orthodoxy  of  the  Pharisees.  Next, 
it  emphasized  the  individual  side  of  rehgion  equally 
with  that  of  the  righteous  community  ;  not  the  nation 
as  such,  but  the  community  of  the  righteous  in  it — 
the  "  plant  of  righteousness,"  as  the  book  of  Enoch 
terms  it — will  inherit  the  divine  reward.  The  exalted 
religious  scheme  which  dominates  these  books  tended 
to  overcome  national  and  particularistic  limitations. 
It  is,  however,  on  the  side  of  the  Messianic  hope  that 
this  literature  is  most  significant ;  and  here  the  points 
of  contact  with  the  New  Testament  are  most  striking 
and  important. I  Another  noteworthy  characteristic  is 
its  supernatural  colouring  ;  in  place  of  the  old  antithesis, 
present  and  future,  it  substitutes  that  of  above  and  below. 
It  thus  acquires  an  "  other- worldHness  "  which  was  in 
marked  contrast  to  the  strictly  practical  and  narrow 
purview  of  scholastic  Pharisaism,  and  formed  a  distinct 
advance  towards  the  lofty  spirituality  of  the  New 
Testament. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  clear  that  the  apocalyptic 
literature  is  by  no  means  destitute  of  real  religious 
value.  How  is  this  fact  to  be  reconciled  with  its  pseudepi- 
graphic  character?  How  is  the  fact  to  be  explained 
that  the  writers  of  these  books  who  are  obviously  earnest 
and  high-minded  religious  men  should  have  consistently 
put  forth  their  writings  under  false  names— e.g.,  the  book 
of  Enoch,  the  testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  etc  ? 
This,  to  us,  strange  procedure  may  largely  be  explained 


See  further  chap,  xi  on  Eschatology. 


AUTHORSHIP   OF   PSEUDEPIGRAPHA        35 

if  we  remember  that  the  apocalyptic  writers  almost 
certainly  drew  their  material  from  popular  tradition. 
Many  of  the  ideas  which  receive  various  embodiment  in 
this  literature,  were  derived,  doubtless,  from  the  common 
stock  of  the  popular  consciousness ;  their  ascription 
to  or  association  with  the  great  heroic  figures  of  antiquity, 
like  Enoch,  Abraham,  Isaiah,  Elijah,  or  the  twelve 
patriarchs,  may  also  be  a  feature  derived  from  the 
popular  consciousness.  The  men  who  reduced  the  various 
elements  to  writing,  or  utilized  them  for  enforcing 
particular  religious  views  or  lessons,  may,  on  this  view, 
be  acquitted  of  any  charge  of  fraud  or  dishonesty; 
they  imphcitly  trusted  the  popular  tradition  so  far  as 
to  believe  that  the  ideas  to  which  they  were  giving 
expression  really  did  go  back  to  the  heroic  figures  of  old. 
Their  estimate,  moreover,  of  the  function  and  importance 
of  authorship  probably  differed  fundamentally  from 
that  of  the  modems  ;  it  was  far  less  self-conscious,  and 
was  the  natural  outcome  of  a  literary  modesty  which 
was  naive. 

To  come  now  to  details,  it  will  only  be  possible  here 
to  enumerate  the  more  important  examples  of  pseud- 
epigraphic  literature.  Though  mainly  apocalyptic  in 
character,  the  pseudepigraphic  literature  also  embraces 
other  varieties  of  composition,  which  it  will  be  convenient 
to  classify  in  the  following  enumeration.  The  classifi- 
cation  adopted  is   that  followed  in    Kautsch's  edition. 

a.  PSEUDEPIGRAPHIC  LEGENDS. 

(i)  The  so-called  "Letter  of  Aristeas "  ;  this  contains  a 
legendary  account,  in  Greek,  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  Septuagint  translation  of  the  Torah  was  com- 
posed. It  purports  to  have  been  written  by  a  heathen 
named  Aristeas  to  a  brother,  Pliilocrates,  in  the  reign  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus.  This  pseudepigraph  exercised 
a  profound  influence  on  the  popular  mind  regarding  the 
place,  position  and  importance  of  the  Septuagint  transla- 
tion. The  name  of  this  translation  which  has  become 
current,  namely  "  Septuagint "  (LXX),  owes  its  origin 
to  this  letter,  according  to  which  seventy-two  (i.e.  roughly 


36      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

seventy)  translators  performed  the  work,  six  from  each 
of  the  twelve  tribes.  Some  of  the  details  contained  in  the 
document  may  have  a  basis  in  fact. 

(2)  The  Book  of  Jubilees,  or  "  Little  Genesis  "  (called  in 
Syncellus  the  "Apocalypse  of  Moses").  It  purports  to 
have  been  given  through  angels  to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai. 
It  is,  however,  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  Pharisaic,  or- 
thodoxy, and  is  strongly  legalistic  in  character,  magnifying 
as  it  does  the  Sabbath,  Circumcision,  the  dietary  laws,  the 
laws  of  purification,  etc.  ;  moreover,  it  is  marked  by  the 
spirit  of  exclusiveness,  and  it  is  essentially  antagonistic 
to  Messianic-apocalyptic  views.  The  patriarchs  are  re- 
presented as  rabbinical  examples  of  piety;  the  figure  of 
the  Messiah  almost  totally  disappears,  and  the  Messianic 
Kingdom  is  conceived  of  as  the  outcome  of  a  gradual 
process  which  is  bound  up  with  a  study  of  the  Law.  In  form 
it  is  narrative,  following  the  history  given  in  Genesis, 
but  divided  into  fixed  periods  of  time  or  "  Jubilees,"  hence 
its  name.*  It  was  originally  written,  probably,  in  Hebrew 
by  a  Pharisee  some  time  between  135-105  B.C.  It  has 
survived  in  an  Aethiopic  version  which  was  translated  from 
a  Greek  version  of  the  original  Hebrew  text.^  There  is 
also  a  Latin  translation  of  the  Greek.  It  is  very  far  from 
being  apocalyptic  in  character  in  the  genuine  sense  of  the 
term  ;  its  main  object  was  to  defend  legaUstic  Judaism 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  Hellenistic  spirit. 

(3)  The  Martyrdom  of  Isaiah  (in  five  chapters),  with  which 
has  been  combined  the  Ascension  of  Isaiah  (chaps,  vi-xi).* 
The  "  Martyrdom  "  is  a  Jewish  work,  the  "  Ascension  "  a 
Christian.  The  "  Martyrdom  "  is  especially  important  for 
the  Anti-Christ  saga.  It  belongs,  probably,  to  the  first 
century  a.d. 

b.  PSEUDEPIGRAPHIC  POETRY. 

The  Psalms  of  Solomon.  This  is  a  collection  of  eighteen 
psalms,  commonly  called  the  Psalms  of  Solomon.  They 
are  marked  by  a  strongly  Pharisaic  spirit,  to  some  extent 

1  The  word  "  Jubilee  "  is  directly  derived  from  the  Hebrew 
term  Jobel  which,  modern  scholars  are  agreed,  has  the  meaning 
"  ram  "  or  "  ram's  horn."  The  year  of  Jubilee  thus  means 
literally  "  The  year  of  the  ram's  horn  "  ;  the  fiftieth  year  was  so 
called  because  it  was  proclaimed  by  the  blowing  of  rams'  horns, 
see  Lev.  25. 

*  Edited  in  an  English  translation  with  Introduction,  etc., 
by  R.  H.  Charles,  London,   1902. 

*  The  complete  work  has  been  edited  in  English  with  notes,  etc., 
by  R.  H.  Charles,  under  the  title  The  Ascension  of  Isaiah,  London, 
1900. 


PSEUDEPIGRAPHA  37 

polemical  in  character  ;  they  are,  however,  simple  and 
straightforward  compositions,  and  reflect  a  type  of  Pharisaic 
piety  of  a  more  spiritual  character  than  in  any  other  part 
of  orthodox  Jewish  literature.  The  picture  of  the  Messiah 
in  the  17th  and  i8th  psalms  is  a  very  fine  one.  These 
psalms  exist  in  a  Greek  text  which  is  probably  the  trans- 
lation of  a  Hebrew  original.  They  are  modelled  upon  the 
psalm-poetry  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  may  have  been 
designed  for  liturgical  use  ;  they  have  marked  affinities 
with  the  hymns  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  S.  Luke's  Gospel 
("  Benedictus,"  "Nunc  Dimittis,"  and  "Magnificat"). 
The  date  of  their  composition  is  probably  about  6^  B.C., 
if,  indeed,  they  were  all  composed  at  one  time.  The 
collection  forms  a  highly  important  document  for  the 
study  of  pre-Christian  Judaism. 

It  is  by  no  means  certain,  however,  that  these  psalms 
deserve  to  be  classified  with  the  pseudepigraphical  litera- 
ture ;  their  claim  to  be  the  composition  of  King  Solomon 
is  embodied  in  the  title  only,  "  they  contain  no  other 
certain  allusion  to  their  reputed  author  ...  it  appears 
most  probable  that  copyists  or  translators  are  responsible 
for  having  ascribed  the  work  to  Solomonic  authorship."  1 
The  selection  of  Solomon's  name  may  have  been  suggested 
by  the  analogous  case  of  the  canonical  Psalter  ;  just  as 
the  latter  had  come  as  a  whole  to  be  called  the  Psalms 
of  David,  so  it  seems  not  improbable  that  this  secondary 
collection,  modelled  on  the  Hebrew  Psalms,  should  have 
appropriated  to  itself  the  name  of  David's  son,  Solomon. 

DIDA  CTIC  PSE UDEPIGRA PH. 

4  Maccabees  ;  this  work  has  been  handed  down  in 
Greek,  Latin  and  Syriac  ;  it  was  originally  composed, 
doubtless,  in  Greek.  It  is  found  in  the  great  biblical 
codices,  the  Sinaitic  and  the  Alexandrine,  as  well  as  in 
several  minor  Greek  manuscripts.  It  was  sometimes 
attributed  to  Josephus,  and  is  to  be  found  in  editions  of 
his  works,  as  well  as  in  editions  of  the  Septnagint.  The 
contents  may  be  thus  described  :  "  The  author  tells,  in 
an  expanded  form  with  some  small  variations  the  story 
told  in  2  Maccabees  of  the  martyrdom  of  Eleazar,  the  aged 
scribe,  and  of  the  mother  and  her  seven  sons  under  Antio- 
chus  Epiphanes,  circa  169  B.C.  In  4  Maccabees,  however, 
the  story  is  told  not  for  itself  but  as  the  text  of  a  sermon. 
"  The  author  lays  down  the  thesis  that  the  reasoning  part 
of   man's   nature   has   supremacy   over    its    feeling   and 


1  Ryle  and  James  in  their  edition   (Introduction,  Text  and 
EngUsh  translation)  of  The  Psalms  of  the  Pharisees,  p.  Ixi. 


38      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

suffering  part,  and  proves  his  point  inductively  by- 
instances  drawn  from  the  history  of  the  Maccabaean 
Martyrs."  ^ 

There  is  a  close  literary  afi&nity  between  4  Maccabees 
and  2  Maccabees,  but  both  may  be  dependent  upon  the 
work  of  Jason  of  Cyrene  as  a  common  source. 

d.  PSEUDEPIGRAPHIC  APOCALYPSES. 

(i)  The  Book  of  Enoch.  This  is  a  composite  work  made  up 
of  elements  of  different  dates  which  are  themselves  frag- 
ments of  a  much  larger  Enochic  literature.  The  oldest 
part  of  the  book  (chaps,  i-xxxvi)  may  have  been  written 
about  the  time  of,  or  shortly  after,  the  composition  of  the 
Book  of  Daniel.  The  most  striking  section,  and  most  impor- 
tant because  of  its  picture  of  the  transcendental  Messiah 
who  is  called  "  the  Son  of  Man,"  is  that  known  as  the 
"  Similitudes  "  (chaps,  xxxvii-lxxi).  Fragments  of  a 
Noachic  cycle  are  also  included  in  the  present  Book  of 
Enoch.  The  entire  work  has  for  its  characteristic  features 
a  strongly  developed  Angelology  and  Demonology,  the 
doctrine  and  the  description  of  the  Messiah  and  the  Messi- 
anic Age,  an  exposition  of  the  secrets  of  the  unseen  world, 
and  of  celestial  physics. 

The  book  was  originally  written  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic, 
■  probably.^     On  the  whole,  the  Book  of  Enoch  is  the  most 

important  representative  of  the  apocalyptic  literature 
that  has  survived. 

(2)  The  Slavonic  Enoch,  or  The  Book  of  the  Secrets  of  Enoch. 
This  was  written  probably  in  the  first  century  a.d.,  origin- 
ally in  Greek.  In  general  character  it  resembles  the  older 
Book  of  Enoch,  but  has  been  influenced  to  a  larger  extent 
by  Greek  thought.  It  belongs  to  Jewish,  rather  than 
to  Christian  literature,  and  is  notable  for  its  account  of 
the  seven  heavens,  the  Millennium,  and  the  condition  of 
souls  after  death. 

(3)  The  Assumption  of  Moses.  The  original  language  of  this 
work  was  most  likely  Hebrew,  and  the  book  was  written, 
it  is  supposed,  about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era. 
In  its  present  form  the  work  is  really  composite,  being 
made  up  of  two  originally  distinct  books,  the  Testament  of 


1  The  Fourth  Book  of  Maccabees  in  Syriac,  p.  xi  ;  edited  by 
the  late  Prof.  R.  L.  Bensly,  with  an  Introduction  by  Prof.  W.  E. 
Barnes,  D.D.,  Cambridge,   1896. 

'^  A  translation  from  the  Aethiopic  text  into  English  with 
Introduction  and  Notes  has  been  published  by  R.  H.  Charles 
(Oxford,  1890)  ;  recently  the  same  scholar  has  published  also  an 
edition  of  the  Aethiopic  text  (Oxford,   1906). 


PSEUDEPIGRAPHA  39 

Moses  and  the  Assumption  of  Moses. ^  It  is  possible  that 
some  phrases  and  sentences  of  a  Greek  version  of  this 
work  are  to  be  detected  in  Matt.  24^8,  Acts  7^^,  Jude 
vers.  9,  16,  18.2  In  form  the  book  assumes  the  character 
of  a  prediction  regarding  the  future  history  of  Israel, 
dehvered  by  Moses  to  Joshua.  It  is  the  work  of  a  Pharisaic 
Quietist,  according  to  Charles,  "  and  forms  a  noble  but 
ineffectual  protest  against  the  growing  Zealotic  spirit  of  the 
party.  Its  author  was  a  learned  Jew  well  versed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his 
nation  subsequent  to  the  close  of  the  Canon  .  .  .  though 
a  patriot,  he  is  not  a  Zealot ;  the  duty  of  the  faithful,  he  says, 
is  not  to  resort  to  arms,  but  simply  to  keep  the  Law  and 
prepare  through  repentance  for  the  personal  intervention 
of  God  in  their  behalf." 

(4)  2  (4)  Esdras.     See  under  APOCRYPHA,  d. 

(5)  The  Apocalypses  of  Baruch. 

i.  The  Syriac  Apocalypse  of  Baruch  ;'  originally  ^vrltte^ 
in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic,  perhaps  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
first  century  a.d.  It  is  an  excellent  example  of  orthodox 
Jewish  thought  and  religious  feeling  as  it  existed  at  the 
time  of  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  before  the  period 
of  Talmudic  Judaism  had  set  in.  In  form  it  assumes  the 
character  of  a  series  of  visions  connected  by  narrative. 
The  work  as  it  is  now  extant,  in  Syriac,  is  of  composite 
authorship.*  It  is  a  book  of  the  highest  importance  for 
the  study  of  Judaism  at  the  time  of  Christ  and  of  the 
Apostles.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  justly  described  as  an 
apology  for  orthodox  Pharisaic  Judaism  of  the  first  cen- 
tury A.D.,  with  an  implicit  polemic  against  Christianity. 
It  throws  a  valuable  hght  on  such  parts  of  Jewish  theology 
as  are  concerned  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Resurrection, 
Original  Sin  and  Free  Will,  Works  and  Justification,  and 
Forgiveness. 

ii.  The  Greek  Apocalypse  of  Baruch.  This  is  quite  a 
distinct  work  from  the  former,  and  is  of  later  origin  (the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century  a.d.  ?).*     It  is  similar 


^  An  English  translation  of  the  whole  has  been  published  by 
R.   H.  Charles  (London,   1897). 

2  See  Charles  op.  cii.  p.  xiii. 

3  The  Syriac  text  was  first  pubHshed  by  Ceriani  (Milan,  1876- 
1883),  who  issued  a  photo-lithographic  facsimile  of  the  original 
sixth  century  MS.,  belonging  to  the  Ambrosian  Library  in  Milan. 

*  It  has  been  edited  in  an  English  translation  by  R.  H.  Charles 
(London,   1896). 

"  The  Greek  text  was  first  pubUshed  in  1897  by  M.  R.  James 
in  "  Texts  and  Studies,"  vol.  v.  No.  i,  pp.  84-94  (Cambridge). 


40      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

in  character  to  the  Enochic  Apocalypse.  Baruch  is  con- 
ducted through  the  heavens,  and  gives  an  account  of  the 
strange  and  wonderful  sights  there  seen.  The  religious 
element  is  not  prominent  in  the  book  ;  it  shows  signs  of 
dependence  upon  the  Slavonic  Enoch  and  on  the  earlier 
Baruch  literature. 

(6)  The  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs.  A  work  of  the 
first  century  a.d.,  or  possibly  earlier  ;  written  originally 
in  Hebrew.  In  its  present  form  it  has  been  edited  by 
Christian  hands.  It  is  a  mixture  of  Midrash  and 
predictive  prophecy.  In  two  of  the  Testaments,  namely 
those  of  Levi  and  Naphthali,  there  are  apocaljrptic 
elements. 

(7)  The  Life  of  Adam  and  Eve  (51  chaps.)  ;  The  Apocalypse 
of  Moses  (43  chaps.  ).i  Legends  regarding  Adam  and 
Eve  seem  to  have  been  current  in  written  form  at  an 
early  date,  possibly  before  a.d.  70.  The  two  works  here 
mentioned  are  survivals  of  this  literature.  The  original 
language  of  them  was  probably  Hebrew.  Such  themes  as 
Adam  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  his  exile  from  Eden,  his 
repentance,  his  illness,  death,  and  funeral  are  dealt  with. 
The  Rabbinical  literature  often  refers  to  legends  connected 
with  Adam  ;  probably  all  these  references  go  back  to  an 
original  popular  legend.  Apocalyptic  elements  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term  are  not  prominent ;  resurrection,  paradise 
and  future  bliss  are,  however,  referred  to.  The  books 
have  a  certain  value  in  illustrating  the  Jewish  doctrine  of 
Sin. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  here  the  fact  that  Golgotha, 
the  "place  of  a  skull "  (Matt.  2723,  Mark  1522,  John  19^^), 
was  so  called,  according  to  a  tradition  mentioned  by  S. 
Jerome  and  S.  Basil,  because  the  skull  of  Adam  was 
preserved  in  this  place.  The  legend  may  have  been 
suggested  by  the  conformation  of  the  knoll.  According 
to  S.  Epiphanius  and  S.  Ambrose,  Adam  was  buried  at 
Golgotha. 

(8)  The  Sybilline  Oracles,  especially  books  iii-v.  A  collec- 
tion of  material  partly  adapted  and  derived  from  similar 
heathen  "  Oracles,"  and  in  poetical  form.  This  mode 
was  adopted  for  the  purposes  of  the  Jewish  propaganda 
of  the  Dispersion,  with  the  object  of  commending  the 
truths  of  the  Jewish  religion  to  pagan  circles.  The  more 
strikingly  Jewish  portions  of  this  collection  date  probably 
from  about   140  B,c.-8o  a.d.  (?).      Apocalyptic  elements 

^  The  Life  of  Adam  and  Eve  exists  now  only  in  a  Latin  form  ; 
The  Apocalypse  of  Moses  is  extant  in  Greek  and  Armenian  ;  a 
translation  of  the  latter  into  English  has  been  published  by  F.  C. 
Conybeare  in  JQR  vii,   pp.  216  ff.  (1895). 


PHARISAIC  OPPOSITION  TO  PSEUDEPIGRAPHA  41 

are  pronounced  in  book  iii — they  deal  with  such  subjects 
as  the  fate  of  the  successive  kingdoms  which  are  to  bear 
rule  over  the  Jews,  signs  of  the  end  of  the  world,  the  day 
of  Judgment,  the  blessed  age  to  come.  They  display  an 
amount  of  interest  in  the  conversion  of  non-Jews  to  the 
Jewish  religion  that  is  unusual  in  strictly  Jewish  writers. 
The  language  of  these  Oracles  is,  of  course,  Greek. i 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  whole  of  this  literature 
was  rejected  by  Pharisaic  Judaism.  Among  the  teachers 
of  the  Law  there  existed  a  decidedly  anti-apocalyptic 
bias  ;  the  Canon  by  which  the  line  of  demarcation  was 
strictly  drawn  between  Holy  Scripture  and  other  religious 
books  was  the  invention  of  the  Pharisees.  As  has  al- 
ready been  pointed  out,  the  apocalyptic  literature  was 
essentially  of  a  non-scholastic  character  ;  it  is,  there- 
fore, not  difficult  to  see  that  the  antagonism  between 
this  literature  and  the  ideas  of  the  teachers  of  the  Law 
would  inevitably  widen  as  time  went  on.  It  became 
necessary  to  safeguard  the  position  of  the  Torah  by 
some  decisive  means,  otherwise  there  was  a  danger  that 
the  growing  popularity  of  the  apocalyptic  books  might 
threaten  to  relegate  the  older  religious  literature  to 
the  background.  "  What  availed  the  age  of  the  Torah, 
which  Moses  had  received,  in  face  of  the  revelation  which 
in  the  primeval  period  had  been  vouchsafed  to  the 
Patriarchs,  to  Noah,  Enoch,  and  even  Adam  ?  "  2.  The 
apocalyptic  literature  itself  shows  traces  of  a  certain 
feeling  of  superiority  (cf.  Enoch  civ,  11-13  and  especially 
2  (4)  Esdras  141*  4').  The  means  adopted  by  the 
Pharisees  to  ward  off  this  danger  was  found  in  the  theory 
of  the  prophetic  period   from   Moses   to   Ezra,   during 


»  No  English  translation  of  the  Sybilline  Oracles  appears  to 
exist  ;  for  further  details  concerning  them  English  readers  may 
be  referred  to  an  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  July,  1877,  pp. 
31-67;  Drummond,  The  Jewish  Messiah,  pp.  10-17  (1897), 
Deane's  Pseudepigrapha,  pp.  276-344  (1891),  and  Schurer,  o/>.  cit. 
II,  iii,  pp.  271-292, 

'  liolscher  Kanonisch  und  Apokryph,  §  v. 


42      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

which  alone  inspiration  operated  ^  ;  all  literature  falling 
outside  these  limits  was  necessarily  excluded  from  the 
Canon  by  this  theory  as  uninspired,  and  so  the  books 
of  Enoch  and  Ecdesiasticus  (Ben  Sira  or  Sirach)  share  a 
similar  fate.  The  Pharisaic  view  was  not  at  first  so  pro- 
nounced and  so  intense  as  it  afterwards  became  ;  official 
Judaism  was  at  first  not  unfriendly,  and  admitted  the 
book  of  Daniel,  which  of  course  was  an  apocalyptic  book, 
into  the  Canon.  Later  apocalyptic  writings  seem  to  have 
come  altogether  under  the  Rabbinical  ban  ;  even  such, 
on  the  whole,  highly  orthodox  and  Pharisaic  works  as 
the  book  of  Jubilees  and  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  seem 
to  have  incurred  suspicion  ;  the  former,  probably,  from 
the  tinge  of  apocalyptic  ideas  which  distinguishes  it, 
the  latter  perhaps  because  of  its  definite  Messianic 
doctrine.  At  any  rate,  Pharisaic  hostihty  or  indifference 
can  alone  explain  the  almost  total  disappearance  of  the 
Hebrew  (or  Aramaic)  originals  of  this  extensive  branch 
of  Jewish  literature.  Doubtless  the  anti-apocalyptic 
tendency  was  later  sharply  increased  by  the  growing 
rift  between  the  Synagogue  and  the  early  Christian 
Church.  The  vogue  of  the  apocalyptic  literature  among 
the  early  Christians  has  already  been  referred  to.  A 
possible  evidence  of  the  Rabbinical  hostihty  is  to  be 
found  in  an  early  passage  (Tos.  Shahhath  xiii  (or  xiv)  5), 
which  denounces  the  reading  of  "  Gilyonim  and  the 
books  of  the  heretics  "  ;  it  is  quite  possible  that  the 
word  "  Gilyonim  "   here  means  "  Apocalypses."  - 

Though  it  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  pseudepigraphic 
Jewish  (apocalyptic)  literature  has  been  dehberately 
excluded  from  official  recognition  and  authority  by  the 
Rabbis,  it  is  none  the  less  important  for  the  study  and 
elucidation    of    Judaism.     Many    of    the    eschatological 

1  Cf.  the  chapter  on  "  Intermediate  Agencies  between  God  and 
Man,"  iii.  b. 

^  Cf.  in  Syriac  Gclyuna  de  Juchanan  "  Apocalypse  of  John." 


IMPORTANCE   OF   PSEUDEPIGRAPHA        43 

references  in  the  Talmud,  many  popular  Jewish  beliefs 
and  superstitions,  can  only  be  adequately  explained 
from  the  apocalyptic  literature  ;  it  is  also  impossible  to 
form  a  just  estimate  of  the  historical  position  and  develop- 
ment of  Rabbinical  Judaism,  as  well  as  the  relations  of 
Christianity  to  the  latter,  without  taking  into  consideration 
the  whole  of  this  literature. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

•  The  Sources  of  Judaism  (Continued). 

I.    The  Targums. 

The  Targums — The  Oral  Tradition  (the  Talmudical  Literature) — The 
Oral  Law  Generally— The  Mishnah — Tosephta — Baraithas — The 
Talmuds — Apocryphal  Appendices— Commentaries  on  the  Talmud 
— Compendiums  of  the  Talmud. 

[Literature  :— Schurer,  op.  cit.  I,  i,  pp.  154-163  ;  Buhl,  Canon 
and  Text  of  the  Old  Testament  (English  Translation, 
Edinburgh,  1892),  pp.  167-182  ;  F.  Weber,  op  cit. 
pp.  xvi-xxiv ;  JE,  XII,  pp.  57-63  (where  see  the  litera- 
ture cited  at  the  end  of  the  article,  including  the  editions 
of  the  original  Targum  texts). 
Translations  into  English— the  three  Targumim  to  the  Penta- 
teuch were  translated  into  EngUsh  by  Etheridge,  under 
the  title  The  Targums  on  the  Peyitateuch  (2  vols.,  London, 
1 862-1 865)  ;  a  translation  of  the  Targum  of  Jonathan 
on  Isaiah  has  been  published  by  the  "  London  Society 
for  promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews,"  The  Chaldee 
Paraphrase  on  the  prophet  Isaiah,  translated  by  the  Rev. 
C.  W.  H.  Pauli  (1871)  ;  a  translation  of  the  second  Tar- 
gum to  Esther  is  included  in  Dr.  P.  Cassel's  Commentary 
on  Esther,  published  by  T.  and  T.  Clark.] 

The  Targums,  or  Aramaic  translations  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, occupy  a  special  place  in  the  post-biblical 
religious  Hterature  of  the  Jews,  because  they  embody 
the  traditional  exegesis  of  the  Scriptures.  The  word 
Targum  means  "  Translation."  ^  Originally  the  word 
was  used  to  signify  a  translation  of  any  sort ;  for  example, 
in  the  Mishnah  the  verb  is  used  of  translatmg  into  Greek  ; 
but  the  name  Targum  itself  acquired  the  restricted  meaning 

1  The  official  translator  of  the  Bible  text  who  declaimed  the 
translation  orally  during  the  Synagogue  Service  was  called 
Methiirgeman  or,  more  briefly,  Targoman  (  =  the  modern  "  Drago- 
man "). 

44 


ORIGIN   OF  THE  TARGUMS  45 

of  a  translation  into  Aramaic.^  The  most  important 
role  assigned  to  the  Targum  was  its  use  in  the  public 
services  of  the  Synagogue.  When  Hebrew  ceased  to  be 
the  common  spoken  language  of  the  people  and  was 
displaced  by  Aramaic,  there  soon  naturally  arose  the 
necessity  of  making  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which  were 
read  in  their  original  language  in  Synagogue  service,  more 
intelhgible  to  the  congregation  ;  hence  was  developed 
the  institution  of  the  Targoman  or  Methurgeman,  who  was 
usually  an  official  of  the  Synagogue.  In  the  case  of  the 
lesson  from  the  Law  (the  Pentateuch)  the  Targum  was 
to  be  read  after  every  verse  ;  in  the  case  of  the  lesson 
from  the  Prophets  {Haphtarah)  after  every  third  verse, 
three  verses  at  a  time ;  one  person  only  might  be 
employed  for  each.  A  minor  might  perform  this  duty. 
Usually  the  teacher  employed  by  the  Synagogue  for 
giving  biblical  instruction  (the  Sopher)  acted  as 
Methurgeman. 

For  a  long  time  the  Targum  was  purely  oral,  but  even 
so  it  gradually  assumed  a  stereotyped  character.  The 
written  Targums,  though  quite  late  as  literary  products, 
largely  embody  this  earlier  traditional  material.  Ulti- 
mately, from  the  ninth  century  onwards,  the  Targwns  fell 
into  disuse,  the  reading  of  them  in  the  Synagogue  service 
almost  entirely  ceased.  At  the  present  time  the  custom 
survives  only  in  southern  Arabia.  In  Bokhara  the 
Persian  Jews  read  the  Targum  (with  the  Persian  paraphrase 
of  it)  to  the  prophetic  lesson  for  the  last  day  of  Passover, 
viz.  Is.  I032-I2.  The  only  books  of  the  Bible  which 
have  no  Targum  are  those  of  Daniel,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, 
which  are  themselves  largely  written  in  Aramaic. 

The  Targums  differ  considerably  in  character  and 
value  ;    that  of  Onkelos  to  the  Pentateuch  is,  on  the 


1  In  Ezra  4^,  the  verb  occurs  for  the  first  time  in  reference 
to  a  document  written  in  Aramaic,  but  here  it  was  felt  necessary 
to  add  the  expUcit  statement,  "  in  Aramaic." 


46      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

whole,  fairly  literal,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  true 
translation  ;  but  the  others  are  for  the  most  part 
paraphrastic. 

Targums  to  the  Pentateuch. 
(i)  Targum  Onkelos  or  the  "Babylonian  Targum."  In  the  Baby- 
lonian Talmud  it  is  said  that  "  the  Targum  to  the  Penta- 
teuch was  composed  by  the  proselyte  Onkelos  at  the 
dictation  of  Rabbi  EUezer  and  Rabbi  Joshua  "  (Megillah 
3*).  This  Onkelos  is  elsewhere!  described  as  the  pupil 
of  Rabbi  Gamaliel  the  elder  who  died  shortly  before  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple  (70  a.d.),  and  must  therefore 
have  been  ahve  at  the  time  of  Christ.  The  statement 
regarding  the  proselyte  Onkelos  seems  to  be  due  to  an 
erroneous  application  of  the  tradition  current  in  Palestine 
regarding  Aquila's  Greek  Version  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Reference  is  made  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  [Megillah  71") 
to  the  proselyte  Aquila  having  translated  the  Pentateuch  ; 
the  translation  here  referred  to  is,  of  course,  the  Greek 
one  of  Aquila  ;  but  in  Babylonia  it  was  misinterpreted 
to  refer  to  the  Aramaic  translation  of  the  Pentateuch, 
Aquila  and  Onkelos  being  a  confusion  of  one  and  the  same 
person. 2  A  more  correct  title  of  this  Targum  would  be 
the  "  Babylonian  Targum  "  {Targum  Bahli)  ;  and  Baby- 
lonian influence  is  noticeable  in  its  language.  The  most 
probable  view,  perhaps,  is  that  it  is  a  Palestinian 
production,  which  has  been  re-edited  in  Babylon.  The 
Targum  Onkelos  is  distinguished  among  the  Targums  by 
its  literalness  ;  the  fanciful  Haggadic  element,  which  is  so 
marked  a  feature  in  the  others,  appears  here  only  in  a 
few  passages,  and  these  mainly  poetic  ;  e.g.,  Gen.  49, 
Num.  24,  Deut.  32-33.  Like  the  Targums  generally, 
that  of  Onkelos  shows  a  marked  tendency  to  avoid 
anthropomorphisms  and  expressions  that  might  appear 
derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  God,  e.g.,  for  "  the  Lord  came 
down  "  (Gen.  11 25)  the  Targum  has,  "  The  Lord  revealed 
Himself  " ;  the  transcendence  of  God  is  emphasized  by  the 
employment  of  intermediate  agencies  like  the  Memra  or 
"Word  "  of  God,  Shekhina,  etc.*  The  following  extracts  will 
illustrate  the  character  of  this  Targum: — Gen.  3«'^-: 
"  And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  word  [Memra)  of  the  Lord 
God  walking  in  the  garden  in  the  evening  of  the  day  ;  and 
Adam  and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from  before  the  Lord  God 
among  the  trees  of  the  garden.     And  the  Lord  God  called 

1  Tosefta  Shabbath,  c.  8. 

2  This  view  is,  however,  disputed  by  some  scholars. 
'  See  further  chap,  vii. 


THE  TARGUMS  47 

to  Adam  and  said.  Where  art  Thou  ?  And  he  said,  the 
voice  of  Thy  Word  I  heard  in  tlie  garden,  and  I  was  afraid, 
because  I  was  naked,  and  I  would  hide."  Again,  Gen. 
49  1  ^^  appears  as  follows  in  this  Targum  :  "  And  Jacob 
called  his  sons  and  said.  Gather  together,  and  I  will  show 
you  what  will  befall  you  in  the  end  of  the  days  ;  assemble 
and  hearken,  oh  sons  of  Jacob,  and  receive  instruction 
from  Israel,  your  father.  Reuben,  thou  art  my  first-born, 
my  strength  and  the  beginning  of  my  power.  Thine  it 
should  have  been  to  take  the  three  portions — the  birth- 
right, the  priesthood  and  the  kingdom  ;  but  because  thou 
hast  proceeded  perversely,  behold,  as  water  outpoured 
thou  shalt  not  prosper,  neither  shalt  thou  receive  the 
excellent  portion." 
(ii)  The  Palestinian  Targum  {"  Targum  Jerushalmi  ").  This 
Targum  exists  in  two  forms,  one  complete  and  the  other 
fragmentary.  The  former  of  these  is  sometimes  (errone- 
ously) called  the  "  Targum  of  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  on  the 
Pentateuch,"  ^  more  correctly  the  "  Targum  of  pseudo- 
Jonathan."  But  besides  this  complete  form  various 
fragments  have  been  handed  down,  many  only  recently 
recovered  ;  the  earlier  fragments  are  usually  termed  the 
"  Targum  Jerusalem."  ^  This  is  rather  a  collection  of 
heterogeneous  material  than  an  ordered  work,  e.g.,  there 
are  sometimes  different  renderings  of  the  same  verse  or 
verses.  In  its  present  form  it  is  not  earlier  than  the  seventh 
century  a.d.  (thus,  it  mentions  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  Mohammed  as  "  daughters  of  Ishmael  "),  but  it 
contains  old  traditional  material,  and  is  important  for  the 
critical  study  of  the  Targum  of  pseudo- Jonathan.  The 
Palestinian  Targum  is  distinguished  from  that  of  Onkelos 
by  its  markedly  free  and  paraphrastic  character  ;  this 
will  appear  from  the  following  extract,  viz.  Gen.  18'"  ;  in 
the  pseudo-Jonathan  Targum  the  passage  runs  thus  : 
"  And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  revealed  to  him  in  the 
valley  of  jNIamre  ;  and  he,  being  ill  from  the  pain  of 
ciixumcision,  sat  at  the  door  of  the  tent  in  the  heat  of 
the  day.  And  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  looked,  and 
behold,   three   angels  in   the   resemblance  of   men   were 


1  The  error  arose  in  the  following  manner  ;  the  Targum  was 
often  indicated  briefly  as  "  Targum  /  "  ;  the  J  was  mistaken  for 
Jonathan,  and  it  was  supposed  that  the  Jonathan  ben  Uzziel,  to 
whom  the  Targum  on  the  Prophets  is  ascribed,  was  also  responsible 
for  this  Targum  on  the  Pentateuch. 

*  The  whole  has  been  collected  and  published  by  Ginsburger 
under  the  title  "  Fragment  Targum  "  {Das  Fragmententargum, 
Berlin,   1899). 


48      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

standing  before  him  ;  angels  who  had  been  sent  from 
the  necessity  of  three  things — because  it  is  not  possible 
for  a  ministering  angel  to  be  sent  for  more  than  one 
purpose  at  a  time — one,  then,  had  to  come  to  make  known 
to  him  that  Sarah  should  bear  a  man-child  ;  one  had  come 
to  deliver  Lot ;  and  one  to  overthrow  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
And  when  he  saw  them  he  ran  to  meet  them  from  the 
door  of  the  tent,  and  bowed  himself  to  the  earth."  In  the 
Jerusalem  Targiim,  which  contains  the  earlier  fragments 
spoken  of  above,  this  passage  is  thus  rendered  :  "  Three 
angels  were  sent  to  our  father  Abraham  ;  and  the  three 
were  sent  for  three  things,  because  it  is  not  possible  that 
one  of  the  high  angels  should  be  sent  for  more  things 
than  one.  The  first  angel  was  sent  to  announce  to  our 
father  Abraham,  that,  behold,  Sarah  would  bear  Isaac  ; 
the  second  angel  was  sent  to  deliver  Lot  from  the  midst 
of  the  overthrow  ;  the  third  angel  was  sent  to  overthrow 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Admah  and  Zeboim.  Therefore 
was  there  a  word  of  prophecy  from  before  the  Lord  unto 
Abraham  the  Just,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  revealed 
to  him  in  the  valley  of  vision  ;  and  he  sat  at  the  door  of 
the  tent,  comforting  himself  from  his  circumcision  in  the 
heat  of  the  day." 

Probably  all  these  Targums,  including  that  of  Onkelos, 
represent  different  phases  of  the  exegesis  of  the  Scriptures 
current  in  Palestine.  The  form  of  Onkelos  is  much  earlier 
in  date  than  that  of  the  other  Palestinian  Targums. 

The  Targum  to  the  Prophets. 

Like  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  the  Targum  to  the  prophetical 
books  gained  general  recognition  in  Babylonia  in  the  third 
century  a.d.  It  is,  however,  originally  a  Palestinian 
production  which  has  been  revised  and  adapted  to  the 
Aramaic  dialect  of  Babylon,  resembling  in  this  respect  also 
the  Targum  of  Onkelos.  Like  the  latter,  it  owes  its 
existence  to  the  needs  of  the  weekly  Sabbath  Synagogue 
Service.  The  prophetic  lesson,  which  was  read  in  Hebrew, 
had  to  be  interpreted  by  a  Methurgeman,  three  verses  at 
a  time,  into  Aramaic.  This  Targum  owes  its  name  to  a 
tradition  which  asserts  that  it  was  composed  by  Jonathan 
ben  Uzziel  "  from  the  mouths  of  Haggai,  Zechariah  and 
Malachi  "  [Megillah  3").  This  last  statement  probably 
means  that  the  Targum  embodies  the  ancient  traditional 
interpretation  of  the  Synagogue. 

Jonathan  ben  Uzziel  was  a  famous  pupil  of  Hillel,  and 
not  improbably  was  responsible  for  an  edition  of  the  Targum 
which  formed  the  basis  for  the  present  Targum  on  the 
Prophets.      It  forms  a  coherent   and  ordered  work,  and 


THE  TARGUMS  49 

thus  presupposes  a  single  redaction  ;  it  is  more  paraphras- 
tic in  character  than  the  Targum  of  Onkelos.  We  append 
a  brief  extract  to  illustrate  the  character  of  this  Targum  : 

Is.  52"'''-  is  thus  rendered  :  (13)  "Behold,  my  servant  the 
Messiah  shall  prosper,  he  shall  be  exalted  and  extolled, 
and  he  shall  be  very  strong.  (14)  As  the  house  of  Israel 
anxiously  hoped  for  him  many  days,  [the  house  of  Israel] 
which  was  poor  among  the  nations,  their  appearance  and 
their  brightness  being  worse  than  that  of  the  sons  of  men  ; 
(15)  thus  shall  he  scatter  many  nations  ;  before  him  kings 
shall  keep  silence  ;  they  shall  put  their  hands  upon  their 
mouths,  for  that  which  had  not  been  told  them  shall  they 
see,  and  that  which  they  had  not  heard  they  shall  consider."  ^ 

It  should  be  added  that  there  are  traces  of  a  Jerusalem 
Targum  to  the  Prophets  (of  a  late  date)  ;  it  is  preserved 
to  some  extent  in  the  form  of  variants  to  the  Targum  of 
Jonathan,  and  also  in  citations,  especially  in  Rashi  and 
David   Kimchi. 

The  Targum  to  the  Hagiographa. 
There  is  no  officially  recognized  Targum  to  the  Hagiographa  as 
there  was  in  the  case  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Prophets  ; 
but,  nevertheless,  Targums  to  the  various  books  of  the 
Hagiographa  are  extant.  The  Targums  to  the  Psalms 
and  Job  apparently  belong  together,  and  form  a  separate 
group,  distinguished  by  Haggadic  features  and  by  the  use 
of  the  Greek  word  uyyeXos  for  "  angel."  Rome  and  Con- 
stantinople are  mentioned  in  them  as  the  two  capitals 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  thus  presupposing  a  date  before 
the  fall  of  Rome  in  476.  Both  these  Targums  also  show 
a  considerable  amount  of  independence  of  the  Massoretic 
text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  Targum  to  Proverbs  shows 
remarkable  resemblances  and  agreements  with  the  Peshitfa 
(Syriac)  Version.  The  Targums  to  the  five  Megilloth, 
"  Scrolls  "  (i.e.  Canticles,  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes, 
Esther)  display  a  marked  Haggadic  character,  which 
may  be  due  to  their  popular  use  in  regard  to  the  Festivals.* 
Canticles  was  interpreted  allegorically  of  the  relations 
between  God  and  Israel.  The  popularity  of  the  book  of 
Esther  is  eloquently  indicated  by  the  fact  that  it  has  no 
less   than    three    Targums.       The  Targum    to    Chronicles 

1  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  here,  and  all  through  the  following 
(fifty-third)  chapter,  the  passages  which  refer  to  the  humiliation 
of  the  Servant  are  interpreted  of  the  people  of  Israel,  while  those 
which  speak  of  the  glory  of  the  Servant  are  referred  to  the 
Messiah. 

^  See  ch.  xix. 


50      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

resembles  the  Jerusalem  Targums   both  in   its   language 
and  in  its  paraphrastic  character. 

The  Targums  are  important  not  only  for  the  light 
they  throw  on  Jewish  theology,  but  also,  especially,  as  a 
Thesaurus  of  ancient  Jewish  exegesis  ;  in  this  way  they 
frequently  offer  matter  of  interest  in  relation  to  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  writings  ;  in  particular  it  can  be 
shown  that  the  New  Testament  often  agrees  with  the 
ancient  Synagogue  in  interpreting  certain  passages 
messianically  which  later  were  expounded  differently 
in  orthodox  Jewish  circles. 

II.    The  Oral  Tradition. 
(The  Talmudical  Literature.) 

[Literature  :  "  The  Talmud,"  an  article  published  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  October,  1867,  by  E.  Deutsch,  and 
reprinted  in  his  Literary  Remains,  London,  1874  ;  the 
articles  "  Talmud  "  in  JE  XII,  pp.  1-27  (by  Bacher) 
and  in  the  extra  volume  of  Hastings  DB,  pp.  57-66 
(by  Schechter),  also,  in  the  E.  Brit,  (by  Schiller- 
Szinessy).  Useful  compendiums  of  information  on  the 
subject  are  Mielziner's  Introduction  to  the  Talmud 
(Cincinatti  and  Chicago,  1894),  and  Strack's  Einleitung 
in  den  Thalmud  (2nd  ed.,  Leipzig,  1894). 

Selections  from  the  Talmud  in  English  :  Hershon's  Talmudic 
Miscellany  (1880)  ;  his  Treasures  of  the  Talmud  (1882), 
and  his  Genesis  with  a  Talmudic  Commentary  (1883).  H. 
Polano,  The  Talmud  (selections,  in  the  Chandos  Classics). 
Montague,  Tales  from  the  Talmud  (London,  1906).  Cf., 
also  Schiirer  HJP  I,  i,  pp.  117  ff.  ;  and  I.  Abrahams, 
Short  Hist,  of  Jew.  Lit.,  chaps,  i,  and  iii,  (London,  1906). 
Other  literature  is  referred  to  below  under  the  separate 
sections.] 

A  well-marked  distinction  is  drawn  in  Jewish  tradition 
between  the  Oral  Law,  "  the  Torah  by  mouth,"  which 
for  centuries  was  handed  down  by  oral  tradition,  and  the 
Written  Law  or  "  Torah  in  writing  "  which  was  embodied 
in  the  canonical  Five  Books  of  Moses. ^ 

1  In  Hebrew  the  former  is  styled   ns  Si;3^'  n^iPl,    the   latter 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   ORAL  TRADITION         51 

The  origin  of  the  Oral  Tradition,  hke  most  origins,  is 
wrapped  in  obscurity.  By  the  later  Rabbis  it  was 
regarded  as  going  back  to  Moses  himself,  as  coeval  with 
the  written  Law.  Thus  a  saying  attributed  to  R.  Simeon 
b.  Lakish  runs  :  "  What  is  that  which  is  written  :  '  I 
will  give  thee  tables  of  stone,  and  the  Law,  and  the  com- 
mandment which  I  have  written,  to  teach  them '  ( Ex. 
24^2)  p  '  Tables,'  these  are  the  ten  words  ^  ;  '  law,' 
this  is  the  Scripture  ;  *  and  the  commandment,"  that  is 
the  Mishnah  ;  '  which  I  have  written,'  these  are  the 
Prophets  and  writings  (Hagiographa)  ;  '  to  teach  them,' 
that  is  the  Gcmara  ;  thus  instructing  us  that  all  of  these 
were  given  to  Moses  from  Sinai."  * 

The  real  period  of  the  beginnings  of  the  traditional 
oral  Law  is  no  doubt  to  be  traced  from  the  time  when  the 
written  Law,  as  canonical  Scripture,  was  studied  and 
expounded  in  the  Synagogue.  This  oral  tradition  was  in 
a  constant  state  of  development,  being  adapted,  modified, 
and  expanded  from  time  to  time  to  meet  the  varying 
practical  needs  of  successive  ages,  and  itself  passing  from 
the  oral  to  the  written.  After  centuries  of  discussion  it 
first  assumed  a  written  form  in  the  Mishnah.  The  earliest 
text -book  of  the  oral  law  (compiled  in  its  present  official 
form  about  200  a.d.).  The  text  of  the  Mishnah  in  turn 
became  the  subject  of  interpretation  and  commentary 
in  the  later  Rabbinical  schools  in  Palestine  and  Babylonia 
(third  to  the  sixth  century  a.d.),  the  results  of  which  are 
crystallized  in  the  two  Talmuds.  And,  again,  the  text  of 
the  completed  Talmuds  has  been  made  the  subject  of 
innumerable  commentaries  and  discussions  since. 

The  whole  vast  development  of  tradition  was  believed 
to  be  a  genuine  and  legitimate  organic  evolution  of  the 
original  deposit.  What  was  originally  implicit  simply 
became    explicit    in    the    continuous     process.      "  The 


i.e.  the  Ten  Commandments. 
Ber.  5*. 


52      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

conviction  was  firmly  held  that  everything  wise  and  good, 
be  it  ethical  or  ceremonial  in  its  character,  whose  effect 
would  be  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  religion,  was  at  least 
potentially  contained  in  the  Torah,  and  that  it  only 
required  an  earnest  religious  mind  to  find  it  there.  Hence 
the  famous  adage  that  '  everything  which  any  student 
will  teach  at  any  future  time  was  already  communicated 
to  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai ;  '  or  the  injunction  that  any 
acceptable  truth,  even  if  discovered  by  an  insignificant 
man  in  Israel,  should  be  considered  as  having  the  authority 
of  a  great  sage  or  prophet,  or  even  of  Moses  himself. 
The  principle  was  that  the  words  of  the  Torah  are  '  fruitful 
and  multiply.' "  ^ 

Exactly  the  same  principle  is  familiar  to  students  of 
Christian  ecclesiastical  history  as  the  "  doctrine  of 
development." 

The  active  work  of  the  Jewish  schools — of  which  the 
Talmudical  Literature  is  the  outcome — in  the  interpreta- 
tion, investigation  and  expansion  of  the  text  of  Scripture 
continued  through  many  centuries,  roughly  from  300  B.C. 
to  500  A. D.,  nor  did  it  cease  after  the  close  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud.  But  the  fixing  of  the  latter  in  writing  marks 
a  well-defined  period  which  stands  out  prominently  in  the 
process  of  development. 

Of  this  work  as  a  whole  it  should  be  noted  that  the 
canonical  text  of  Scripture  is  always  kept  distinct  and 
apart  from  the  interpretation  and  amplification.  The 
process  of  development  is  therefore  clearly  visible  in  the 
form  of  the  hterature.  Another  important  point  to 
remember  is  the  fine  of  demarcation  that  is  drawn  between 
the  Halakah  and  Haggadah.^     Under  the  former  term 

1  Schechter,  Studies  p.  227!.  This  consideration  will  help  to 
explain  the  so-called  laws  given  to  Moses  on  Sinai,  of  which  forty- 
three  are  referred  to  in  the  Talmud.  No  Bibhcal  basis  is  assigned 
for  them,  and  they  may,  perhaps,  emanate  from  the  pre-Maccabean 
epoch. 

*  Cf.  what  is  said  on  this  point  in  ch.  v. 


"HALAKAH"    AND    "  HAGGADAH  "  53 

is  embraced  all  that  belongs  to  the  strictly  legal  or  ritual 
element  in  Scripture,  or  can  be  deduced  therefrom, 
including  discussions  of  such  points.  But  it  also  covers 
other  such  usages  which  have  little  or  no  Scriptural  basis  : 
"  the  term  extends  also  to  the  usages,  customs  {Minhdgim), 
ordinances  (Tekanoth)  and  decrees  (Gezeroth)  for  which 
there  is  little  or  no  authority  in  the  Scriptures  "  (Schechter). 
The  term  Haggadah  (or  'Aggada)  which  meant  originally 
recitation  (of  the  Scriptures)  acquired  an  extended  signifi- 
cance covering  the  whole  field  of  the  non-halakic  part  of 
the  old  Rabbinical  hterature,  all  that  is  spiritual  and 
homiletical  as  well  as  all  that  is  merely  illustrative,  such 
as  stories  and  legends  of  biblical  and  post-biblical  heroes 
and  saints,  and  folklore  generally.  "  Such  topics  as 
astronomy  and  astrology,  medicine  and  magic,  theosophy 
and  mysticism,  and  similar  subjects,  faUing  mostly  under 
the  heading  of  folk-lore,  pass  as  a  rule  also  under  the 
name  of  Haggadah"  (Schechter). 

The  authorities  mentioned  or  referred  to  in  the  earliest 
compilations  of  the  Oral  Law  (i.e.  the  Mishnah  Tosefta 
and  Bar  ait  ha)  are  [a)  the  Soferim  or  "  Scribes,"  [b)  the 
Zugoth  or"  Pairs,"  and  (c)  the  Tannaim  or  "Teachers." 
{a)  The  Soferim  or  "  Scribes  "  were  the  expounders  of  the 
Law  from  the  time  of  Ezra  to  the  Maccabean  period 
(c.  450-100  B.C.).  The  work  of  the  "  Scribes  "  is  referred 
to  somewhat  indefinitely  in  the  Rabbinical  hterature  : 
"  the  words  of  the  Soferim "  is  the  somewhat  vague 
authority  cited  for  certain  Halakoth  of  various  dates. 

According  to  some  scholars  the  "  men  of  the  great 
synagogue,"  or  "  the  remnants  of  the  men  of  the  great 
synagogue,"  are  to  be  identified  with  the  Soferim,  and  the 
synod  is  traditionally  said  to  have  consisted  of  120  mem- 
bers. It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  any  such  assembly 
ever  existed,  though  not  improbably  some  element  of 
historical  truth  underlies  the  tradition.  To  the  "  men  of 
the  great  synagogue  "  many  sayings,  ordinances,  and 
decrees  are  attributed  ;    such  as  the  arrangement  of  the 


54      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Old  Testament  Canon,  the  reading  of  the  Law  on  certain 
days  of  the  week,  the  arrangement  of  the  daily  prayers, 
saying  of  grace  after  meals,  etc.,  possibly  also  the  so-called 
"  law  given  to  Moses  on  Sinai  "  emanate  from  the  Soferic 
age.  More  than  a  third  of  these  "  Laws  " — there  are 
forty-three  altogether — refer  to  the  preparation  of  the 
phylacteries. 

The  chain  of  tradition  is  described  in  the  following 
classical   passage  from   the  Mishnah    (Pirke  Aboth   I)  : 

"  Moses  received  the  Torah  from  Sinai,  and  he  dehvered  it 
to  Joshua,  and  Joshua  to  the  elders  (Jos.  2431,  Jud.  2')  and 
the  elders  to  the  prophets,  and  the  prophets  delivered  it  to 
the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue  ;  they  said  three  things  : 
Be  deliberate  in  judgment  ;  and  raise  up  many  disciples  ; 
and  make  a  fence  to  the  Torah." 

The  second  of  these  sayings  suggests  that  the  teaching 
activity  of  the  Soferim  was  a  prominent  feature. 

A  careful  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  the  later 
scribes,  the  scribes  of  the  New  Testament,  and  these  earlier 
Soferim.  In  the  New  Testament  period  the  term  is  a  general 
one,being  used  to  describe  the  professional  class  of  the  teachers 
of  the  law  generally.  The  earlier  scribes  seem  to  have  been 
much  influenced  by  the  exponents  of  the  wisdom-literature, 
but  the  two  classes,  "  Soferim,"  the  Scribes,  and  the  "  Wise," 
were  probably  distinct  in  the  Persian  and  early  Greek  periods, 
by  the  time  of  Ben  Sira  however  the  distinction  had  largely 
disappeared.  (Sage  and  Scribe  are  identified  in  Eccles  28.3*  ff. 
Cf.  633;  914  ff,  1420  ff.).  Probably  some  of  the  work  of 
the  earlier  Soferim  is  preserved  in  the  Canonical  Scriptures, 
e.g.  Psalm   119. 

{h)  The  Ziigoth  "pairs"  (Grk.  tvyoi'),  an  appellation 
given  to  the  leading  teachers  of  the  Law  from  the  Maccabean 
to  the  Herodian  period,  B.C.  150-30.  According  to  tra- 
dition the  two  mentioned  in  each  case  were  heads  of  the 
Sanhedrin,  the  one  first  mentioned  being  the  President 
(Nasi)  and  the  second  the  vice-president  {ab  beth  din). 
There  may  be  some  truth  underlying  the  tradition 
in  the  sense  that  the  pairs  really  did  stand  at  the  head 
of  the  organized  teachers  of  the  nation,  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  at  the    time    in    question    the    Sanhedrin    had 


THE    "TANNAIM"  55 

been  organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  justify  the  official 
designations  given  to  the  pairs.  According  to  the  New 
Testament  and  to  Josephus,  the  High  Priest  was  the  ex 
officio  head  of  the  Sanhedrin.  All  the  Z.  guth  are  import- 
ant, for  various  haggadic  sayings  attributed  to  them  (of. 
the  Mishnah  tractate,  "Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers," 
ch.  i,  §§  4-15).  The  most  important  were,  of  course, 
Hillel  and  Shammai,  the  founders  of  the  two  great  schools 
("  House  of  Hillel,"  "  House  of  Shammai  ").  To  Hillel 
are  ascribed  many  striking  sayings,  among  others  the 
famous  one  addressed  to  a  heathen  who  was  seeking 
admission  to  Judaism — "  What  is  hateful  to  thyself  do 
not  to  thy  fellow-man.  This  is  the  whole  Torah,  the  rest 
is  only  commentary"  {Shahhath -^0°) .  Hillel  was  the 
first  to  frame  the  rules  of  interpretation — seven — which 
formed  the  basis  of  R.  Ishmael's  thirteen  exegetical 
rules. 

(c)  The  Tannaim,  "  Teachers,"  a  name  given  to  the 
Rabbinical  authorities  who  flourished  during  the  first 
two  centuries,  a.d.,  from  a.d.  10-220. 

In  the  Mishnah,  however,  the  term  Tanna  (sing.)  does  not 
occur ;  it  was  applied  to  the  doctors  of  the  Mishnah  by  later 
generations. 
The  Tannaim  may  be  conveniently  classified  into  four 

generations. 

(i)  First  Generation  10-80  a.d.  During  this  period 
the  rival  schools  of  Shammai  and  Hillel  were  active. 
The  former  were,  on  the  whole,  rather  more  strict  and 
rigid  in  their  interpretation  of  tradition.  At  this  time 
also  flourished  Rabban  Gamahel  the  elder  (mentioned 
in  Acts  5^*  ^^),  and  Jochanan  b.  Zakkai,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  peace-party  in  the  war  against  Rome 
(66-70  A.D.),  and  afterwards  prominent  at  the  academy 
of  Jamnia. 

(ii)  Second  Generation,  90-130  a.d.  The  most  important 
names  here  are  Rabban  Gamaliel  II  (grandson  of  the 
above-mentioned  Gamaliel),  and  his  brother-in-law  Eliezer 


56      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

b.  Hyrkanos  (head  of  a  school  in  Lydda) .  Of  the  younger 
teachers  R.  Tarfon,  R.  Jose  of  Gahlee,  R.  Ishmael  b. 
EHsha  (who  framed  the  thirteen  niles  of  interpretation 
and  at  Usha  founded  a  famous  school  of  Midrash -students 
from  which  various  Midrashim  emanated)  and  R.  Akiba 
are  the  most  famous. 

(iii)  Third  Generation,  130-160.  This  includes  the 
disciples  of  R.  Ishmael,  and  the  younger  disciples  of  R. 
Akiba  (R.  Meir  and  R.  Simon  b.  Jochai,  and  R.  Simon 
b.  Gamaliel,  the  son  and  successor  of  Gamahel  II  being 
the  most  prominent). 

(iv)  Fourth  Generation,  160-220.  Here  the  great 
figure  is  R.  Judah  ha-Nasi,  "  the  Prince,"  called  also 
"  Our  master  the  saint,"  but  more  usually  "  Rabbi  " 
simply  (without  addition).  He  succeeded  his  father  as 
Patriarch  and  is  famous  as  the  compiler  of  the  Mishnah 
in  its  present  form. 

III.    The  Mishnah,  Tosefta  and  Baraithas. 

[Special  Literature,  (a)  Editions  of  the  text.  The  best  text 
available  is  the  Cambridge  one  edited  by  W.  H.  Lowe  : 
The  Mishnah  on  which  the  Palestinian  Talmud  rests 
(Cambridge,  1883).  The  editio  princcps  is  that  of 
Surenhusius  6  vols.  Amsterdam  1698-1703  (with  Latin 
translation  and  commentaries).  (6)  English  Translations  : 
Eighteen  Treatises  of  the  Mishna,  translated  bv  De  Sola  and 
Raphall  (2nd  ed.  London,  1845) ;  18  translated  by  J.  Barclay 
in  a  vol.  with  the  title  The  Talmud  (London,  1878); 
Translation  of  the  Pirke  Aboth  by  Dr.  C.  Taylor  (with 
valuable  notes),  Cambridge,  1897  =  (f)  Articles,  etc. 
The  art.  Mishnah  in  E.  Brit.  xvi.  502  (by  Dr.  Schiller- 
Szinessy),  and  in  JE  viii,  609-619  ;  the  art.  Tosefta  in 
JE  xii.  207-209;  the  art.  Baraita  in  JE  ii.  513-516 
(with  the  literature  cited).] 

The  literary  outcome  of  the  work  of  the  various  genera- 
tions of  the  Tannaim  enumerated  in  the  previous  section, 
so  far  as  it  has  survived,  is  embodied  in  the  Mishnah,  the 
Tosefta,  and  various  Baraithas. 

i.  The  Mishnah.  The  name  "  Mishnah  "  is  derived 
from  a  verb  {shanah)  which  means  to  "  repeat,"  and  then 


THE  SIX   "ORDERS"   OF  THE  "MTSHNAH"     57 

"  to  learn  "  or  "  teach  "  (by  repetition).  It  thus  came 
to  mean  "  teaching  "  (of  the  oral  tradition). ^  It  forms  the 
main  depository  of  the  oral  Law  as  distinguished  from  the 
text  of  Scripture,  termed  mikra  ("  reading  matter  "). 

In  its  final  form,  as  compiled  (apart  from  a  few  later 
additions)  by  R.  Judah  the  Patriarch,  it  is  divided  into 
six  main  parts  or  Orders  {seders" order" ;   pi.  sedarim;) 
each  seder  or  order  is  divided  into  Tractates  {Massektoth  pi. 
of  Masseketh,  Aram.  ?)iassikta,  from  a  verb  meaning  "  to 
weave,"  cf.  Lat.  textus),  and  each  Tractate  into  chapters 
{perakim,  pi.  of  perek  "a  joint"),  and  ea.ch  perek  into 
paragraphs  which  are  called  each  a  Mishnah. 
The  six  Sedarim  or  Orders  are  as  follows  :  ^ 
(i)  Zeraim  ("  Seeds  "),  deals  mainly  with  laws  connected 
with  agriculture,   but   opens   with   a   tractate   on 
Prayer  (viz.  Berakoth,  "  Blessings  ")  ; 

(2)  Moed   {"  Festival "),    on   the   Festivals,    including 

the  Sabbath  ; 

(3)  Nashim     ("  Women  "),    on    marriage-laws    mainly 

(but  including  two  tractates  dealing  with  the 
laws  of  vows)  ; 

(4)  Nezikin  ("  Damages  "),  mainly  dealing  with  civil 

and  criminal  law  ; 

(5)  Kodashim    ("  Holy    Things  "),    dealing    with    the 

laws  relating  to  sacrifices.  It  includes  a  valuable 
Tractate  {Middoth)  which  gives  the  measurements 
of  the  Temple,  describing  its  halls,  gates,  etc. 

(6)  Tohoroth  {"  Purifications  "),  dealing  with  the  laws 

of  personal  and  ritual  purification. 
The  Mishnah  is  written  in  a  scholastic  form  of  Hebrew, 
developed  and  descended  from  biblical  Hebrew.     This 

1  In  the  Church  Fathers  (S.  Jerome,  etc.)  such  traditions  are 
termed  devreptlxreii  "  repetitions  " — e.g.  "  I  would  fail  to  tell 
of  the  multitude  of  the  traditions  of  the  Pharisees,  which  are  now 
called  SevTepJ}aeis "  (s.  Jerome,  Ep.  121).  Cf.  further  Schiirer, 
op.  cit.  p.    119,  et  ai. 

^  They  include  63  (or  60)  Tractates. 


58      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

idiom  is  usually  styled  "new  Hebrew,"  and  is  essentially 
academic  in  character,  though  it  is  an  organic  develop- 
ment of  the  older  language.  The  present  compilation, 
which  was  redacted  by  R.  Judah  the  Patriarch,  is  a  very 
comprehensive  one  ;  it  embodies  the  main  contents  of  the 
entire  Halakah  (traditional  laws  of  ritual  and  religious 
practice),  and  thus  includes  material  of  various  age  and 
date.     Included   within   it    also    are    earlier   collections. 

The  earliest  halakic  collection  was  the  halakic  midrash  and 
it  is  probably  embodied  in  the  halakic  Midrashim  (Mekilta, 
Sifra,  Sifre  :  see  chap.  v).  At  an  early  period,  however,  the 
Halakah  was  separated  from  the  Midrash  and  embodied  in  a 
distinct  and  independent  collection.  This  would  form  the 
earliest  Mishnah-collection  (made  probably  by  the  disciples  of 
Hillel  and  Shammai).  The  first  to  systematize  the  halakic 
collection  was  R.  Akiba  ;  and  he  was  the  redactor  of 
a  compilation  out  of  which  the  present  Mishnah  actually 
.  grew.  His  disciple  R.  Meir  extended  this,  or  rather 
compiled  a  collection  of  halakic  laws  of  his  own,  as 
did  other  Tannaim.  These  collections  were  all  more 
or  less  arbitrary  and  incomplete,  and  to  remedy  the 
consequent  confusion  and  uncertainty,  R.  Judah  under- 
took his  collection,  which  has  become  the  final  authoritative 
one  (though  it  is  by  no  means  free  from  defects)  and  which 
formed  the  basis  for  the  later  discussion  embodied  in  the 
two  Talmuds.  Whether  R.  Judah  actually  reduced  his 
compilation  to  writing,  or  whether  this  was  only  done  later, 
is  disputed.  In  its  present  form  the  text  of  the  Mishnah  has 
received  additions,  made  after  the  time  of  Rabbi,  for  the  sake 
of  completeness. 

From  the  nature  of  its  subject-matter,  the  Mishnah  is 
mainly  legahstic  in  character.  The  phraseology  is  cramped, 
and  the  style  very  terse  and  compressed.  Brevity  of 
expression  was  aimed  at  (probably  to  assist  memorizing) , 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptural  texts  deahng  with  the 
topics  discussed  is  assumed,  as  well  as  of  established  religious 
customs  generally.  The  following  paragraph  may  serve 
as  a  sample,  it  is  the  opening  one  of  the  Tractate  Sukkah 
("  Tabernacles  "),  in  Sedar  Moed  : 

A  booth  (the  interior  of)  which  is  above  twenty  cubits 
high  is  disallowed.  R.  Judah  allows  it.  One  which  is  not 
ten  hands  high,  one  which  has  not  three,  walls,  or  which  has 


THE   "TOSEFTA"  59 

more  sun  than  shade  is  disallowed.  "  An  old  booth  ?  "  The 
school  of  Shammai  disallow  it  ;  but  the  School  of  Hillel  allow 
it.  What  is  an  old  booth  ?  One  that  was  made  thirty- 
days  before  the  feast  ;  but  if  it  were  made  with  intention 
for  the  feast,  even  from  the  beginning  of  the  year,  it  is 
allowed. 

[Here  the  knowledge  of  the  duty  of  living  in  booths  for 
seven  days,  in  accordance  with  Lev.  23*2  is  presupposed.] 

It  would  be  unjust,  however,  to  the  Tannaitic  Teachers 
to  suppose  that  the  Mishnah  codification  represents 
the  full  outcome  of  their  interpretative  powers.  The 
hermeneutical  element  in  the  Mishnah  is  rare  and  small 
in  extent.  For  this  it  is  necessary  to  turn  to  the  Midrashim 
in  the  earlier  of  which  the  Tannaim  are  to  be  seen  at 
their  work  of  biblical  exegesis  (see  p.  55).  But  even 
in  the  Mishnah  itself  vivid  descriptive  passages  are 
sometimes  met  with  (though  rarely)  which  relieve  the 
monotony  of  the  purely  legal  sections,  such  as  the  charm- 
ing description  of  a  procession  of  firstfruits  arriving  in 
Jerusalem  {Bikkurim,  III  2f.),^  or  the  following  (from 
Rosh   ha-Shanah  II  8)  : 

Rabban  Gamaliel  had,  on  a  tablet  and  on  the  walls  of 
his  room,  sketches  of  the  phases  of  the  moon  which  he 
showed  to  ignorant  witnesses  and  said  :  "  Was  it  thus  you 
saw  her,  or  thus  ?  " 

ii.  The  Tosefta. 

Under  the  name  Tosefta,^  which  means  "extensions," 
"  additions,"  a  collection  of  halakoth  parallel  to  the 
official  Mishnah  has  been  handed  down.  The  exact 
relation  of  this  collection  to  the  official  Mishnah  and  the 
Baraithas  of  the  Talmud  (see  below)  is  difficult  to 
determine.       It   seems   that    the    Tosefta  is   really   an 

»  Summarized  in  Delitzsch's  Jewish  Artisan  Life,  chap.  iv. 
("  A   June  Day  in  Ancient  Jerusalem.") 

*  To  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  Tosafoth,  the  name 
given  to  the  additions  made  to  Rashi's  commentary  on  the  Tal- 
mud by  his  disciples  (hence  called  Tosafists;  Rashi  died,  1105). 
They  are  printed  on  the  outer  margins  of  the  editions  of  the 
Babylonian  Talmud.     See  below. 


60      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

independent  collection  of  the  same  material  as  that 
embodied  in  the  Mishnah ;  only  the  halakoth,  which 
have  largely  been  abbreviated  in  the  latter  (for 
memorizing  purposes)  are  here  given  in  fuller  form 
with  additions  and  explanations.  Consequently  the 
material  extant  in  the  Tosefta  is  often  of  great 
critical  value,  being  given  in  a  more  original  form.  Like 
the  Mishnah,  the  Tosefta  is  divided  into  six  Orders  or 
Sedarim.  It  contains  all  the  tractates  of  the  Mishnah 
with  the  exception oi  Aboth  in  Seder  Nezikin,  and  Kinnim, 
Middoth  and  Tamid  in  Seder  Kodashim.  It  has  formed 
the  subject  of  many  commentaries  in  Hebrew  (the  latest 
by  M.  Friedmann  to  his  ed.  of  the  Tosefta  of  Seder  Moed, 
Part  I,  1898  ;  Part  II,  1900).  The  Haggadic  element  is 
much  more  pronounced  in  the  Tosefta  than  in  the  Mishnah. 

iii.  The  Baraithas. 

The  term  "  Baraitha  "  is  an  Aramaic  word  meaning 
"  the  outside,"  "external  "  (sc.  Mishnah)  and  designates 
"  A  Tannaite  tradition  not  incorporated  in  the  Mishnah," 
or  a  collection  of  such.  The  Baraithas  thus  bear  a 
somewhat  similar  relation  to  the  Mishnah  as  that  of  the 
Apocrypha  to  the  Canonical  Books  of  the  Bible. 

The  Baraitha  sections  are  scattered  about  the 
Talmuds  where  they  are  easily  distinguishable  by  the 
fact  that  they  are  cited  in  Hebrew,  whereas  the 
language  of  the  Gemara  of  the  Talmud  is  Aramaic. 

They  are  regularly  introduced  by  the  formula  "  our  Rabbis 
have  taught"  {tend  rabbdndn),  or  there  is  "a  tradition" 
(tanyd),  or,  where  an  authority  is  cited  by  name,  "  R.  So 
and-so  taught  "  (ieni  R.). 

The  Baraithas  contain  both  halakic  and  haggadic  ma- 
terial, and  many  of  them  represent  an  older  tradition  than 
that  accepted  in  the  Mishnah,  and,  in  fact,  one  opposed 
to  the  latter  (this  appHes  particularly  to  the  rejected 
halakoth  of  the  School  of  Shammai).  Thus  the  Pharisaic 
view  of  the  biblical  lex  talionis  was  that  it  is  applicable  only 


THE  TALMUDS  61 

in  the  case  of  murder ;  other  crimes  could  be  expiated 
by  money  compensation.  This  is  assumed  by  the  Mishnah 
without  discussion.  But  it  appears  from  a  Baraitha 
[Baha  Kama  84*)  that  this  principle  was  not  recognized 
by  the  School  of  Shammai,  and  that  Eliezer  b.  Hyrcanus 
"  still  upheld  the  old  Sadducean  view  of  the  lex 
talionis." 

A  scientific  collection  and  critical  examination  of  this 
scattered  material  still  remains  a  desideratum. 

IV.    The  Talmuds. 

[Special  Literature.  A  Latin  translation  of  a  large  part  of 
the  Palestinian  Talmud  is  given  in  Ugolini,  Vols.  XVII, 
XX,  XXV  and  XXX.  A  complete  translation  into 
French  has  been  published  by  Moses  Schwab  (Paris, 
1 87 1  and  following  years) ;  and  an  English  translation 
of  Schwab's  first  volume  (Berakoth)  appeared  in  1885. 
The  Haggadic  portions  are  given  in  Wiinsche  Der  jerusa- 
lemische  Tahmid  in  seinen  haggadischen  Bestandtheilen 
(Zurich,  1880). 
An  edition  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  (Hebrew  text 
and  German  translation)  is  in  course  of  publication  : 
edited  by  L.  Goldschmid.  The  Haggadic  passages  have 
been  translated  by  Wiinsche,  Der  babylonische  Talmud 
in  seinen  haggadischen  Bestandtheilen,  etc.,  2  vols. 
(i 886-1 888).  Translations  of  single  Tractates  have 
appeared  in  Latin,  German,  French,  and  English. 
In  English,  the  treatise  Chagigah  translated  with 
introduction,  notes,  glossary  and  indices,  by  Rev.  A.  W. 
Streane  (Cambridge,   1891).] 

With  the  compilation  of  the  official  Mishnah  of  Rabbi 

the  work  of  the  Jewish  Schools  did  not  cease.     On  the 

contrary,  the  text  of  the  Mishnah  became  the  basis  for 

further  juristic  discussion  and  amplification,  the  outcome 

of  which  was  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian  Talmuds. 

The  Rabbinical  authorities  who  were  engaged  in  this 

work,  and  who  were  active  both  in  the  schools  of  Palestine 

and  Babylonia  from  220  to  500  a.d.  bear  the  generic 

designation  of  Amor  aim,  "  Speakers  "  or  "  Interpreters." 

During  this  period  famous  Rabbinical  academies  existed 

not  only  in  Palestine  (Tiberias,  Sepphoris,  Cssarea)  ;     but 

also  in  Babylonia  (Nehardea,  Sura,  and  later  at  Pumbeditha). 


62      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  Palestinian  Amoraim  who  had  been  ordained  i  by  the 
Patriarch  {Nasi)  bore  the  title  of  Rabbi  ;  those  of  Babylonia 
who  had  received   ordination  bore  the  title  of  Rab.* 

"  The  main  object  of  the  lectures  and  discussions  "  which 
took  place  in  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian  Schools  during 
this  period,  "  was  to  interpret  the  often  very  brief  and  con- 
cise expression  of  the  Mishnah,  to  investigate  its  reasons 
and  sources,  to  reconcile  seeming  contradictions,  to  compare 
its  canons  with  those  of  the  Baraithoth,  and  to  apply  its 
decisions  and  established  principles  to  new  cases  not  yet 
provided  for  "  (Mielzincr,  op.  cit.  p.  40).  The  Amoraim  were 
not  independent  authorities  Uke  the  Tannaim,  having  no 
authority  to  contradict  what  was  accepted  in  the  Mishnah 
and  Baraithoth,  The  Talmud,  however,  in  cases  of  disagree- 
ment, sometimes  sides  with  the  latter  against  the  former. 

The  most  important  of  the  Amoraim  (of  whom  several 
hundreds  are  mentioned  in  the  Talmud)  are  the  following 
(classified  into  five  generations)  : 

(i)  First  Generation  (220-280)  :  {a)  Palestine ;  R. 
Chiyya  and  his  disciple  R.  Hoshaiah  (the  traditional 
compilers  of  the  Tosefta).  Hoshaiah  had  an 
academy  [yeshibah)  for  many  years  at  Sepphoris 
and  afterwards  at  Caesarea,  and  was  a  famous 
teacher.  His  name  is  associated  particularly  with 
Haggadic  interpretations  of  Scripture,  and  he 
seems  to  have  been  engaged  in  frequent  discussion 
with  Christians  in  Palestine,  especially,  it  has 
plausibly  been  supposed,  with  the  famous  Church 
Father  Origen.^ 

R.  Jochanan  (bar  Nappacha)  estabhshed  a 
great  school  at  Tiberias,  which  became  the 
principal  centre  of  learning  in  Palestine.  He  is 
often  mentioned  in  the  Talmud   (usually  as  R. 


1  Ordination  (in  the  earlier  period  by  "  laying  on  of  hands  " 
semikath  yadaim)  was  confined  to  Palestine  and  the  Patriarch. 

^  The  titk;  "  Rabban  "  is  superior  to  both  "  Rabbi  "  and 
"  Rab,"  being  confined  to  the  Patriarchs  and  heads  of  the 
Sanhedrin,  e.g.,  "  Rabban  Gamaliel." 

3  Origen  was  ordained  presbyter  at  Csesarea  in  228,  opened 
his  famous  philosophical  and  theological  school  there  in  231,  and 
died  at  Tyre,  254. 


FAMOUS   RABBIS  63 

Jochanan),  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  leading 
A  mora  of  Palestine.  He  seems  to  have  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud  ;  he  died 
c.  279. 
(6)  Babylonia  :  Abba  Arika,  the  chief  Babylonian 
A  mora.  He  is  usually  called  by  way  of  distinction 
"Rab"  (i.e.,  the  teacher  par  excellence,  of.  "Rabbi," 
similarly  of  R.  Judah  the  Patriarch).  In  his 
youth  he  went  to  Palestine  with  his  uncle  R. 
Chiyya  (mentioned  above)  and  became  a  dis- 
tinguished pupil  of  Rabbi  Judah  the  Patriarch. 
After  the  latter's  death  he  returned  to  Babylonia 
and  founded,  in  219,  the  school  in  Sura,  which 
was  attended  by  1,200  pupils.  Over  100  of  his 
disciples  are  mentioned  in  the  Talmud  by  name. 

(ii)  Second  Generation  (280-300).  (a)  Palestine.  R. 
Eleazar  b.  Pedath,  generally  referred  to  as  R. 
Eleazar,  and  R.  Abbahu,  a  native  of  Palestine. 
The  latter  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  wide 
culture  (a  good  Greek  scholar).  He  taught  at 
Csesarea  where  he  was  a  persona  grata  with  the 
Roman  officials,  and  was  frequently  engaged  in 
controversy  with  Christians. 
(6)  Babylonia :  Rab  Huna  (born  212,  died  297) , 
a  disciple  of  Rab  ;  R.  Judah  (b.  J echeskel), gener- 
ally referred  to  as  Rab  Judah.  He  founded  the 
academy  of  Pumbeditha. 

(iii)  Third  Generation  (320-370).  {a)  Palestine. 
During  this  period  the  Palestinian  schools  fell  into 
complete  decay  owing  to  the  persecuting  policy 
of  the  Emperors  Constantine  and  Constantius. 
(6)  Babylonia  :  Rabba  bar  Huna  (the  son  of  Rab 
Huna,  disciple  and  successor  of  Rab)  ;  Rabbah 
bar  Nachmani  (called  in  the  Talmud  simply 
Rabbah),  famous  for  his  dialectical  powers,  in 
allusion  to  which  he  was  called  "  uprooter  of 
mountains." 


64      SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

(iv)  Fourth  Generation  (375-427)  [entirely  Babylonian]. 
Rab  Ashi  was  made  president  (at  the  age  of  20)  of 
the   re-opened  Academy  of  Sura,  and  held  office 
for  52  years.     Under  him  Sura  regained  its  former 
fame  as  a  seat  of  learning.     So  great  became  Ashi's 
authority  that  he  was  called  by  contemporaries 
Rabana  "  our  teacher."     He  began  the  task  of 
compiling,    sifting    and   arranging    the    material 
which  was  afterwards  embodied  in  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  [Gemara). 
(v)    Fifth  Generation  (Babylonian)  (427-500).     During 
the   period   of   this  generation   the   academies   of 
Sura  and  Pumbeditha  were  active  ;   under  Rabba 
Thospia  (or  Tosfaah)  and  Rabbina  (contraction  of 
Rab  Abina) ,  heads  of  the  Sura- Academy,  the  com- 
pilation  of   the   Babylonian    Talmud,   begun    by 
Rab  Ashi,  was  brought  to  a  close,  and  the  whole 
reduced  to  writing.     With  the  death  of  Rabbina 
in  499  the  line  of  the  Amor  aim  came  to  an  end. 
The  finishing  touches  to  the  compilation  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud  were  given  by  the  so-called  Saborai  "  Explainers." 
They  were  responsible  for  the  final  redaction  of  the  text. 
A  mediaeval   Jewish    authority  says  :     "  They  have    added 
nothing  of  their  own  to  the  Talmud,  nor  have  they  expressed 
any  divergent  opinions,  merely  determining  the  arrangement 
of  the  text  of  the  Talmud  in  all  its  chapters."  The  Babylonian 
teachers   to   whom   the   designation    "  Saborai  "   is   applied 
were  the  heads  of  the  academies  at  Sura  and  Pumbeditha 
between  500  and  540.     There  was  no  corresponding  class  of 
teachers  in  Palestine. 

THE   TWO   TALMUDS. 

The  literary  results  of  the  work  of  the  Palestinian  and 
Babylonian  Schools  sketched  above  is  mainly  embodied 
in  two  works  which  respectively  bear  the  title  of  Talmud 
of  Jerusalem  or  more  correctly  Talmud  of  the  Land  of 
Israel  (Palestinian  Talmud)  ,^  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud.^ 

1  Also  "  Gemara  of  the  people  of  the  West." 

2  Once  called  "  Talmud  of  the  people  of  the  East." 


THE   PALESTINIAN   TALMUD  65 

The  name  "  Talmud "  means  primarily  "  teaching," 
"  doctrine  "  [it  also  bears  the  meaning  "  learning  "  (learning 
acquired  by  study)  in  some  early  passages].  A  further 
development  of  the  meaning  (especially  in  the  phrase  talmud 
lomar)  was  instruction  by  means  of  the  text  of  Scripture,  and 
exegetic  deductions  therefrom.  This  again  was  applied  to 
the  special  elucidation  of  a  Halakah  from  the  text  of  Scrip- 
ture ("  the  exegetic  confirmation  of  the  Halakah  ").  In 
the  Talmud  itself  the  word  is  applied  to  the  discussions  of 
the  Amoraim  as  distinguished  from  the  Mishnah  text  which 
formed  the  basis  of  such  discussion.  Finally,  it  was  used 
to  designate  the  entire  text,  Mishnah  included.  After  this 
usage  had  become  established  apparently  the  two  component 
parts  of  the  Talmud  text  were  distinguished  as  Mishnah  and 
Gemara  (=  ?  completion),  but  the  latter  term  is  post-Tal- 
mudic  (according  to  Bacher  Gemara  means  not  "completion," 
but  learning,  especially  that  transmitted  to  scholars  by 
tradition). 

The  Palestinian  Talmud  was  completed  some  time  in  the 
fourth  century,  about  a  century  before  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  but  by  whom  it  was  compiled  is  unknown.  It 
apparently  was  not  subjected  to  a  final  revision,  and  has 
reached  us  in  an  incomplete  form.  Possibly,  however, 
some  portions  have  been  lost.  In  its  present  form  it 
covers  only  thirty-nine  ^  of  the  sixty-three  tractates  of  the 
Mishnah,  and  in  some  parts  of  these  the  Gemara  is 
incomplete.  The  non-Hebrew  portions  of  the  text  are 
written  in  a  form  of  Western  Aramaic  which  is  almost 
identical  with  that  used  in  the  early  Palestinian  midrashic 
works.  It  is  interesting  historically  (as  well  as  linguistic- 
ally) as  representing  in  one  of  its  phases  the  popular 
language  of  Palestine.  The  Palestinian  Talmud  is 
especially  rich  in  haggadic  material. 

The  compilation  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  practically  finished  at  the  end  of  the  fifth 
century.  Here  again  the  Gemara  is  incomplete,  only 
thirty-seven  tractates  of  the  Mishnah-texi  being 
commented  on. 

1  All  the  tractates  of  the  Orders,  Zeraim,  Moed,  Nashim,  and 
Nezikin  (except  Eduyoth  and  Aboth)  are  included  ;  but  none  in 
Kodashim  and  Teharoth  (except  Niddah)  are  dealt  with. 

6-(^4i7) 


66      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  earliest  complete  edition  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud 
[Talmud  Bahli)  was  printed  at  Venice  (1520-1523)  by 
Daniel  Bomberg,  and  has  been  made  the  basis  of  the  many 
later  editions.  This,  the  editio  pHnceps,  has  also  largely 
determined  the  external  form  of  all  later  editions.  Together 
with  the  text  of  the  Talmud  proper  it  gives  on  one  margin 
the  commentary  of  Rashi,  on  the  other  the  Tosafoth 
and  kindred  matter.  "  Especially  noteworthy  is  the 
fact  that  the  first  edition  of  Babli  has  a  pagination  which 
has  been  retained  in  all  subsequent  editions,  thus  render- 
ing it  possible  to  quote  passages  with  exactness,  and  to 
find  citations  readily"  (Bacher). 

It  is  usual  to  cite  the  two  Talmuds  as  T.J.  (  =  Talmud  of 
Jerusalem)  and  T.B.  (  =  Talmud  of  Babylon).  In  the  case 
of  the  latter  a  citation  from  the  Gemara  is  fixed  by  the  page, 
which,  as  explained,  is  identical  in  all  editions  (the  two  sides 
of  each  leaf  are  regarded  as  one  page,  and  are  numbered  a 
and  b).  Thus  T.B.  Berak,  29*  means  that  the  reference  will 
be  found  in  the  Gemara  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  to  the 
tractate  Berakoth  on  the  second  side  of  the  folio  (or  page) 
numbered  29.  In  the  case  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud  the 
citations  are  usually  made  by  the  mishnaic  chapters  each 
of  which  together  with  the  Mishnah-text  contains  immediately 
following  the  corresponding  Gemara,  divided  into  paragraphs 
(usually  styled  "  Halakah  i,  2,  3,  etc."). 

It  may  be  added  that  the  Mishnah  text  (as  distinguished 
from  the  Gemara)  is  cited  according  to  chapter  and  paragraph. 
E.g.,  "  Ber.  VI.  2  "  shows  at  a  glance  that  the  Mishnah  (not 
the  Gemara)  is  referred  to  ;  and  that  the  6th  chap,  of 
Berakoth,  the  2nd  par.,  is  intended. 

The  differences  between  the  two  Talmuds  are  not  incon- 
siderable. There  is  first  of  all  the  difference  of  language. 
The  non-Hebrew  parts  of  the  Palestinian  Talmud  (as  has 
been  pointed  out  already)  are  written  in  a  western 
Aramaic  dialect  ;  those  of  the  Babylonian  in  an  East 
Aramaic  idiom  closely  related  to  Syriac  and  Mandaic. 
The  style  is  also  marked  by  differences.  The  discussions 
given  in  the  Palestinian  are  more  brief  and  condensed 
than  those  of  the  Babylonian  ;  there  is  also  less  casuistic 
discussion  of  purely  hypothetical  cases  in  the  former 
than   in   the  latter.     On  the   whole,  the  Palestinian  is 


CHARACTER   OF   TALMUDIC   LITERATURE     67 

decidedly  more  simple  and  direct  in  statement.  Though 
two  more  tractates  (thirty-nine)  are  commented  on  in  the 
Palestinian  than  in  the  Babylonian  (thirty-seven)  the 
bulk  of  the  latter  is  three  times  as  great  as  that  of  the 
former.  Though  many  authorities  are  cited  equally  in 
both,  neither  Talmud  directly  quotes  from  the  other. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  Rabbinical  studies  maintained 
themselves  in  Babylonia,  while  the  Schools  of  Palestine 
and  the  Palestinian  Jewish  communities  fell  into  decay, 
the  study  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  has  been  largely 
cultivated  among  the  mediaeval  and  later  Jewish  com- 
munities, while  the  Palestinian  was  generally  neglected. 
It  was,  as  a  rule,  known  only  to  special  scholars  among 
the  Rabbis.  In  modern  times  scholars  have  devoted — 
and  are  still  devoting — much  attention  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  it.  But  the  Babylonian  Talmud  remains  the 
Talmud  par  excellence  for  the  mass  of  orthodox  Jews. 
As  regards  its  general  character  the  Talmudic  literature 
is  distinguished  by  certain  striking  features  and  peculiarities 
which  call  for  mention  in  passing.  The  language  in  which 
the  discussions  are  set  forth  is  bald  and  concise  often  to 
obscurity.  Abbreviations  are  largely  employed.  Allu- 
sions to  religious  customs,  texts,  etc.,  are  briefly  made,  and 
knowledge  presupposed  on  the  part  of  the  reader,  which 
are  by  no  means  self-evident  to  non- Jewish  readers. 
There  is  no  attempt,  either,  at  rhetoric  or  fine  writing. 
Consequently  the  task  of  translating  is  often  impossible — 
only  a  liberal  paraphrase  can  be  employed.  As  the  dis- 
cussions are  usually  in  the  form  of  debate^ — question  and 
answer,  argument  and  counter-argument,  which  have 
no  distinguishing  external  indication,  have  to  be  allowed 
for.  The  discussions,  too,  are  often  difficult  to  follow, 
no  logical  connexion  being  apparent.  This  characteristic 
has  been  well  set  forth  by  Deutsch  :  "  Schooled  in  the 
harmonizing,  methodizing  systems  of  the  West — systems 
that  condense  and  arrange  and  classify  and  give  everything 
its  fitting  place  and  its  fitting  position  in  that  place — 


68      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

he  [the  Talmudic  student]  feels  almost  stupefied  here. 
The  language,  the  style,  the  method,  the  very  sequence  of 
things  (a  sequence  that  often  appears  as  logical  as  our 
dreams),  the  amazingly  varied  nature  of  these  things 
— everything  seems  tangled,  confused,  chaotic."  Often 
the  connexion,  such  as  it  is,  is  to  be  found  not  in  the 
subject-matter  but  in  the  authority  cited.  In  estimating 
the  Talmud,  and  indeed  Jewish  Literature  generally 
(including  the  Old  and  a  large  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ments), it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  we  are  dealing 
with  oriental  books. 

The  only  complete  MS.  of  this  Talmud  is  at  Munich  (written 
at  Paris  in  the  year,  1369).  The  text  of  the  later  editions 
(that  of  Basel,  1 578-1 581)  has  suffered  from  the  censorship. 
Words  or  expressions  supposed  to  be  offensive  or  hostile  to 
the   Christian  religion  were  altered  or  deleted. 

V.    Apocryphal  Appendices  to  the  Talmud. 
The  following  tractates,  forming  a  sort  of  apocryphal 
collection,  are  usually  appended  to  the  editions  of  the 
Talmud.     Nos.    i    and    2    are    of    considerable     value 
historically  and  in  other  ways. 

1.  Ahoth  de  Rabbi  Nathan,  forming  a  kind  of  Tosefta- 

text  to  the  Mishnah-treatise  Pirke  Aboth.  The 
ethical  dicta  of  the  latter  work  are  here  expanded 
and  illustrated.  The  R.  Nathan  to  whom  this 
work  is  attributed  belonged  to  the  fourth  genera- 
tion of  the  Tannaim  (160-220),  but  the  present 
book  is  post-Talmudic.  The  work  is  divided  into 
forty-one  chapters,  and  is  written  in  new  Hebrew. 
A  critical  edition  was  published  by  Schechter  in 
1887 ;  and  a  German  translation  [Rabbi  Nathait's 
■  System  der  Ethik  und  Moral)  by  Kaim  Pollak  in 

1905  (Frankfort-  on-the-Main) . 

2.  Soferim  {"  the  Scribes  ")  ;  a  tractate  in  twenty-one 

chapters  containing  rules  for  the  writing  of  the 
Pentateuch  scrolls,  as  well  as  massoretic  and 
liturgical  rules.     The  hturgical  matter  is  of  great 


APOCRYPHAL  TALMUDIC  TRACTATES      69 

interest  and  value  (best  edition  that  of  Dr.  Joel 
Miiller  in  2  vols.  [crit.  Heb.  text  with  elaborate 
notes  in  German],  Leipzig,  1878), 

3.  Ehel  Rahhati  :    a  treatise  on  mourning,  also  called 

(euphemistically)  Semachoth,  "Joys."  It  is  divided 
into  fourteen  chapters,  and  deals  with  mourning 
and  burial  customs  and  rules. 

4.  Kallah  ("  Bride  "),  a  minor  tractate,  consisting  of 

one  chapter,  dealing  with  the  obligation  of  chastity 
in  marriage  and  generally. 

5.  Derek  Eretz  ("  Conduct  of  Life  "),  a  tractate  con- 
sisting of  eleven  chapters,  dealing  with  ethical, 
social  and  religious  themes. 

6.  Derek  Eretz  Suta   ("  The  conduct  of  Life,   minor 

treatise"),  in  ten  chapters  of  much  the  same 
character  as  the  preceding. 

7.  Per  eh  ha-Shalom   ("  Chapter  on   Peace  "),   consists 

of  one  chapter  which  deals  with  the  importance  of 

peacefulness. 
All   the  above  are  appended  to  the  Talmud  in  the 
printed  editions.     Besides  these,  seven  minor  tractates 
were  published  by  Raphael  Kircheim,  from  an  ancient 
MS.,  in  1651  (Frankfort  on  the  Main). 

VL  Commentaries  on  and  Compendiums 
OF  the  Talmud. 
The  difficulties  which  beset  the  student  of  the  Talmud 
will  have  been  made  sufficiently  evident  from  what  has 
been  already  said  above.  These  difficulties  have  been  felt 
by  Jewish  students,  and  have  given  occasion  for  the 
production  of  numerous  commentaries.  A  very  full 
list  of  these  will  be  found  in  the  art.  Talmud  Com- 
mentaries in  the  JE  (xii,  27-30).  Only  a  few  of  the  more 
important  can  be  mentioned  here.  In  the  latest  and 
best  complete  edition  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  (the 
Wilna  edition  of  the  Widow  and  Brothers  Romm,  pub- 
lished   1880-1886   in    25    vols.)    a   considerable   number 


70      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

of  commentaries  are  printed :  among  others  that  of  Rabbemi 
Chananel  (^'1)  of  Kairowan  (Africa)  who  flourished 
about  1050,  and  who  commented  on  a  large  part  of  the 
Talmud.  But  by  far  the  most  important  is  the  com- 
mentary of  "  the  prince  of  commentators,"  Rabbi  Solomon 
Isaaki  of  Troyes  (1040-1105),  usually  called  from  the 
initials  of  his  name  Rashi — whose  work  covers  the  greater 
part  of  the  text  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud.  Without 
Rashi's  commentary  and  its  supplements  any  edition  of 
this  Talmud-text  would  be  incomplete.^  It  has  been 
well  described  as  "  a  true  model  of  concise,  clear,  and 
systematic  commentation.  By  a  few  plain  words  it  often 
sheds  light  upon  the  obscurest  passages,  and  unravels  the 
most  entangled  arguments  of  the  Talmudical  discussions. 
As  if  anticipating  the  slightest  hesitation  of  the  inexperi- 
enced student,  it  offers  him  at  once  the  needed  explanation, 
or  at  least  a  hint  that  leads  him  in  the  right  way.  It  has 
truly  been  said  that  but  for  this  peerless  commentary  of 
Rashi,  the  Babylonian  Talmud  would  have  remained  as 
neglected  as  the  Palestinian.  An  additional  merit.  .  .  is 
.  .  .  that  it  very  often  establishes  the  correct  version  of  the 
corrupted  Talmud  text  "  (Mielziner).^  Supplements 
and  additions  to  Rashi's  commentary  were  made  by 
relatives  and  disciples. 

In  addition  to  Rashi's  work,  which  is  printed  in  the 
inner  margins,  the  editions  of  the  Bahli  also  have  a  collec- 
tion of  annotations  and  glosses,  which  are  printed  on  the 
exterior  margins,  and  are  called  Tosafoth  {Additions). 
These  do  not  form  a  running  commentary  (like  Rashi's), 
but  are  separate  notes.  The  authors  of  these  additions, 
who  were  numerous,  are  called  Tosafists  (Heb.  Ba'aU 
tosafoth).  They  flourished  in  France  and  Germany  during 
the    twelfth    and    thirteenth    centuries.      Commentaries 


»  It  is  unfortunate  that  Goldschmid's  text  and  (German)  trans- 
lation, now  appearing,  are  printed  without  Rashi's  commentary. 

*  See,  for  an  excellent  account  of  Rashi's  Tahuudic  commentaries 
(with  illusti-ative  extracts).  Liber's  Rashi  (London,  1906),  p.  135  f. 


"MISHNAH"   COMMENTARIES  71 

were  also  written  on  the  Mishnah  as  an  independent 
work.  The  best  known  complete  one  on  the  entire 
Mishnah  is  that  of  Maimonides  (commenced  in  the  23rd 
year  of  his  age  in  Spain,  and  finished  in  his  30th  year  in 
Egypt).  It  was  written  in  Arabic,  but  has  been  trans- 
lated into  Hebrew  by  several  hands,  and  this  Hebrew 
translation  is  usually  printed  in  editions  of  the  Talmud. 
Another  noteworthy  commentary  covering  the  whole 
Mishnah  is  that  of  R.  Obadiah  of  Bertinoro  in  Italy, 
who  was  Rabbi  in  Jerusalem  in  the  sixteenth  century 
(died  1510).  It  was  written  in  Hebrew  and  is  usually 
appended  to  separate  editions  of  the  Hebrew  text 
of  the  Mishnah,  Latin  translations  of  this  and  of 
Maimonides'  commentary  are  printed  in  the  edition 
of  Surenhusius.  Those  tracts  of  the  Mishnah  for  which 
no  Babylonian  Gemara  exists  and  on  which  consequently 
Rashi  did  not  comment,  have  also  been  frequently 
annotated  by  distinguished  Rabbis  ;  notably  by  R. 
Simson  of  Sens  (twelfth  century),  a  famous  Tosafist,  and 
by  R.  Asher  b.  Jechiel  (thirteenth  century). 

Various  Rabbinical  commentaries  also  exist  on  the 
Palestinian  Talmud,  which  do  not  call  for  further 
mention  here. 

As  the  Babylonian  Talmud  was  regarded  as  the  source 
of  binding  Rabbinical  law  for  the  regulation  of  the 
religious  life,  it  was  inevitable  that  various  compendiums 
and  codifications  of  it  should  be  made  for  purposes  of 
convenience.  In  such ,  haggadic  and  other  unnecessary 
elements  were  omitted,  as  well  as  the  long  legal  discus- 
sions. The  codes  aimed  at  presenting  the  legal  material 
in  a  more  systematic  form. 

The  most  important  compendiums  are  one  by  R.  Isaac 
Alfasi,  usually  cited  as  Aljasi  or  from  the  initial  letters 
of  his  name  as  "Rif  "  (born  1013,  died  1103),  and  one  by 
R.  Asher  b.  Jechiel  (died  1327).  This  compendium  is 
usually  added  to  each  tractate  in  printed  editions  of  the 
Talmud  (under  the  title  -^^ii  irai). 


n      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  codification  of  the  Talmudic  law  was  accom- 
phshed  by  Maimonides  in  the  twelfth  century,  in  a 
large  work  entitled  Mishneh  Tor  ah,  "  Repetition  of  the 
Law."  It  is  written  in  new  Hebrew,  and  is  divided 
into  fourteen  books  ;  hence  its  popular  name  Sefer  ha- 
Yad  (the  Hebrew  letters  v  numerically  =  14),  and  later 
by  way  of  distinction,  Yad  ha-chazakah,  "  The  Strong 
Hand."  Various  commentaries  and  annotations  were 
produced  later  on  this  work,  and  are  usually  printed 
with  it. 

Another  important  codification  bears  the  name  of 
Turim  {="  Rows  "  i.e.,  rows  of  Laws).  It  was  compiled 
by  R.  Jacob,  son  of  the  well-known  R.  Asher  b.  Jechiel, 
referred  to  above,  and  is  divided  into  four  parts,  viz., 
Tur  Orach  Chayyim,  dealing  with  liturgical  laws  ;  Tur 
Yoreh  Deah,  dealing  with  the  ritual  laws  ;  Tur  Eben 
Ha-Ezer,  dealing  with  the  marriage  laws,  and  Tur  choshen 
mishpat,  treating  of  the  civil  laws.  The  Turim  differ 
from  the  Mishneh  Torah  in  so  far  as  the  aim  of  the 
former  compilation  is  a  strictly  practical  one.  It  restricts 
itself  to  laws  actually  in  practice  at  the  time,  all  that 
had  become  obsolete  being  disregarded.  In  accordance 
with  this  practical  purpose  post-Talmudic  laws  and 
customs  are  also  embodied. 

The  printed  editions  of  Turim  are  usually  provided  with 
commentaries  by  R.  Joseph  Karo  (this  commentary  is 
called  Beth  Joseph)  and  by  R.  Moses  Isserles  (Darke  Mosheh). 

The  most  famous  of  the  codifications,  and  the  one 
most  extensively  used  by  the  Jews,  is  the  Shulchan  Aruk 
("  Prepared  Table  ")  of  the  R.  Joseph  Karo  (sixteenth 
century),  already  mentioned  as  a  commentator  on  the 
Mishneh  Torah  and  Turim.  Taking  the  latter  work  with 
his  own  accompanying  commentary  as  a  basis,  and 
retaining  its  four  divisions  (with  their  titles)  and  general 
arrangement,  he  remodelled  the  entire  contents  so  as 
to  give  the  work  the  character  of  a  law-book.  By 
strict   orthodox  Jews  this  Code  has  been  regarded  as 


HAGGADIC  COLLECTIONS  73 

authoritative  since  it  was  first  promulgated.  In  con- 
nexion with  its  text  numerous  commentaries  and  glosses 
have  been  produced. 

Of  Haggadic  Collections  from  the  Babylonian  Talmud, 
the  most  popular  and  comprehensive  is  the  En  Jacob 
{2^V^  VV  =  "  Well  of  Jacob  ")  of  R.  Jacob  ibn  Chabib 
(beginning  of  sixteenth  century).  A  similar  collection 
was  made  from  the  Palestinian  Talmud,  which  was  pub- 
lished, with  a  commentary,  by  R.  Samuel  Jafe  (Vienna, 
I5Q0  ;  reprinted  Berlin,  1725-6)  under  the  title  Yefeh 
Mar' eh  (^^i"ID  HD^). 


CHAPTER    V. 

The   Sources  of  Judaism  {Concluded). 
The  Midrashim  and  the  Prayer-Book. 

The  Midrashim  :  Midrash  Halakah  and  Midrash  Haggadah — The 
Halakic  Midrashim — The  Haggadic  Midrashim  on  the  Pentateuch 
and  Five  Scrolls — The  Homiletic  Midrashim  on  the  Lections — 
Other  Midrashim — Characteristics  of  the  Midrashic  Literature — 
New  Testament  Illustrations — The  Prayer  Book — A  shkenazim  and 
Sefardim — Prayer  Book  Compilations — Appendix  :   Later  Sources. 

[Literature  (for  the  Midrashim) : — The  principal  authority 
is  Zunz,  Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vortrdge  der  Juden^  2nd 
ed.    1892  (passim). 

The  following  may  be  consulted  in  English.  The 
Artt.  Midrash  in  the  E.  Brit,  by  Dr.  Schiller-Szinessy, 
and  Midrash  Haggadah  in  JE  VIII  (which  has  been  cited 
several  times  below)  :  also  I.  Abrahams,  A  Short  History 
of  Jewish  Literature  (1906),  ch.  iv  ("The  Midrash  and 
its  Poetry ")  ;  and  S.  Rapaport,  Tales  and  Maxims 
from  the  Midrash  ("The  Semitic  Series,"  published  by 
Routledge,  London,   1907).] 

I.  Introductory. 

Another  branch  of  Rabbinical  Literature  which  is  closely 
associated  in  some  of  its  characteristic  forms  with  the 
text  of  the  Bible  is  the  midrashic.  The  term  "  midrash," 
which  already  occurs  in  the  Bible  (cf.  2.  Chron.  13^^, 
24^'),  denotes  "  exposition,"  "  exegesis,"  especially  of 
an  edifying  and  moralizing  character.  It  is  carefuHy 
distinguished  from  the  mere  hteral  sense,  which  is 
technically  termed  "  peshat  "  (ht.  "  simple)."  ^ 

The  Midrashic  Literature  may  broadly  be  distinguished 
into  two  classes,  according  as  it  is  of  a  legal  character, 
dealing  with  matters  of  binding  law  in  a  strict  legalistic 
spirit  [Midrash  Halakah),  or  of  a  freer  and  more  edifying 


>  Cf.,  the  common  name  of  the  Syriac  version  of   the  Bible, 
Peshitto." 

74 


MIDRASHIC   LITERATURE  75 

tendency,  with  stories  and  illustrative  matter  drawn  from 
popular  custom,  tales,  and  beliefs  [Midrash  Haggadah). 
By  far  the  larger  proportion  of  this  literature  belongs  to 
the  latter  category.  Here  it  covers  a  wide  range  and 
received  a  rich  development,  embracing  not  merely  the 
interpretation  of  the  non-legal  parts  of  Scripture,  but  also 
their  amphlication  and  illustration  generally.  It  covers 
everything,  in  fact,  that  is  not  included  in  or  connected 
with  the  Halakah.  Finally,  its  close  apphcation  to  the 
text  of  Scripture  became  a  subordinate  feature  and  it 
assumed  the  form  of  finished  discourse  (homily). 

The  term  Halakah  =  "  rule."  "  binding  law,"  and  is  applied 
to  the  legal  element  in  the  oral  law  and  the  Rabbinical  dis- 
cussions and  decisions  dependent  on  it,  especially  as  embodied 
in  the  Mishnah,  the  Talmuds  and  the  compendiums  of 
Rabbinic  Law  based  thereon  (like  the  Shulchan  Aruk).^  The 
term  Haggadah  ="  nurrSLtion,"  "telling,"  and  "means 
primarily  the  recitation  or  teaching  of  Scripture  ;  in  a 
narrower  sense  it  denotes  the  exegetic  amplification  of  a 
Biblical  passage  and  the  amplification  of  a  new  thought 
based  thereupon."  '  The  term  soon  became  used  in  a  general 
sense  to  embrace  the  whole  mass  of  non-halakic  interpreta- 
tion generally  ;  "  maggid  "  (a  term  connected  with  Haggadah) 
was  applied  to  the  preacher  who  delivered  hoaiiletical 
discourses  in  the  synagogue  of  a  haggadic  nature.  The 
characteristic  features  of  this  kind  of  oratory  have  been  well 
summed  up  by  Zunz:  "  The  Haggadah,  which  is  intended  to 
bring  heaven  down  to  the  congregation,  and  also  to  lift  man 
up  to  heaven,  appears  in  this  office  both  as  the  glorification 
of  God  and  as  the  comfort  of  Israel.  Hence  religious  truths, 
moral  maxims,  discussions  concerning  divine  retribution, 
the  inculcation  of  the  laws  which  attest  Israel's  nationality, 
descriptions  of  its  past  and  future  greatness,  scenes  and 
legends  from  Jewish  history,  comparisons  between  the  divine 
and  Jewish  institutions,  praises  of  the  Holy  Land,  encourag- 
ing stories,  and  comforting  reflections  of  all  kinds  form  the 
most  important  subjects  of  these  discourses."  '  This  hag- 
gadic literature  thus  constitutes  a  thesaurus  of  the  highest 
and  deepest  thoughts  of  the  Jewish  teachers  on  religion  and 
ethics,  embodied  in  popular  form.  It  should  be  added  here 
that  one  controlling  motive  and  feature  of  Midrash,  which 

»  See  §  vi  of  ch.  iv  above. 

*  JE  VIII,  p.  550  (s.w.  Midrash  Haggadah). 

'  Cited  ibid. 


76      SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

literally  means  "  investigation,"  was  to  investigate  and 
elucidate,  by  all  exegetical  means  at  command,  all  possible 
hidden  meanings  and  applications  of  Scripture.  For  the 
methods  employed  see  the  art.  Talmud  Hermcneutics  in  ]E 
XII,  30  ff. 

Midrashic  material  has  received  various  embodiment 
in  the  Rabbinical  collections  enumerated  below.  Mid- 
rashic elements  can  already  be  detected  in  the  text  of 
Scripture  itself.  The  chronicler  cites  as  one  of  his  sources 
a  "  Midrash  [E.V.  "  commentary "]  of  the  book  of 
Kings  "  (2  Chron.  24^'^),  and  the  books  of  Chronicles 
exhibit  many  of  the  characteristic  features  of  Midrash 
proper,  as  can  be  seen  by  comparing  the  parallel  narratives 
contained  in  Chronicles  and  the  earlier  historical  books 
{Sa'ymiel  and  Kings).  In  the  work  of  the  Chronicler  we 
have  to  deal  "  with  a  very  free  treatment  and  exposition 
of  old  traditional  material,  the  object  of  which  is  not  so 
much  to  narrate  history  as  to  conduce  to  rehgious  edifi- 
cation." ^  These  midrashic  features,  it  may  be  added, 
were  probably  already  developed  in  the  sources  used  by 
the  Chronicler,  and  may  not  primarily  be  due  to  the  latter. 
They  are  the  outcome  of  a  process  which  had  been  going 
on  for  some  time,  and  by  which  the  traditional  history 
of  the  People  of  Israel  became  transformed  into  the  history 
of  a  church.  There  is  not,  however,  any  cogent  reason 
for  doubting  the  good  faith  of  the  writers  who  took  part 
in  this  development.  It  must  be  regarded,  rather,  as  the 
result  of  the  reflex  action  of  the  religious  institutions  which 
are  embodied  in  the  Priestly  Code  of  the  Hexateuch,  and 
which  had  become  established  as  binding  custom  and 
invested  with  antique  sanctions.  This  midrashic  ten- 
dency finds  full  expression,  as  might  be  expected,  in  the 
Books  of  the  Apocrypha  and  in  the  pseudepigraphic  htera- 
ture  of  Judaism  generally.  A  good  example  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  apocryphal  book  of  Susanna.     This  is  really 

1  Cornill,  Introduction  to  the  Canonical  Books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment.    ET,  p.  237  (Williams  &  Norgate,   1907). 


RABBINIC   METHOD   OF  TEACHING         77 

a  midrashic  narrative  suggested  by  the  meaning  of  the 
name  Daniel  (  =  "  EL  (God)  is  my  judge  "),  as  indeed  the 
alternative  title  of  the  book  found  in  some  Greek  MSS., 
Judgment  of  Daniel,  may  indicate.  In  the  Book  of  Jubilees ' 
(second  century  B.C.)  we  have  "  an  extreme  product  of 
the  midrashic  process,"  already  apparent  in  the  work  of 
the  Chronicler.  The  author  of  Jubilees  "  sought  to  do 
for  Genesis  what  the  Chronicler  had  done  for  Samuel  and 
Kings."  He  re-wrote  the  Bibhcal  Book  of  Genesis  from 
the  standpoint  of  later  Pharisaism.  He  glorifies  the  Law 
and  such  ordinances  as  Circumcision  and  the  Sabbath; 
he  insists  on  the  separation  of  Israel  from  the  Gentiles, 
and  represents  the  Patriarchs  as  models  of  Rabbinical 
piety  (sec  Charles'  Introduction  to  his  ed.  §§  14  and  15). 
Midrashic  tendencies  can  also  be  detected  in  certain 
books  of  the  New  Testament  (see  §  3  of  this  chapter 
below). 

In  forming  an  estimate  of  this  hterature  it  is  necessary 
to  remember  a  point  which  has  been  admirably  put  by 
an  English  commentator  on  the  Apocrypha,  the  Rev. 
C.  J.  Ball  :  "  We  have  to  bear  in  mind,"  he  says,  "  a 
fact  familiar  enough  to  students  of  the  Talmudic  and 
Midrashic  literature,  .  .  .  the  inveterate  tendency  of 
Jewish  teachers  to  convey  their  doctrine,  not  in  the  form 
of  abstract  discourse,  but  in  a  mode  appealing  directly  to 
the  imagination,  and  seeking  to  arouse  the  interest  and 
sympathy  of  the  man  rather  than  the  philosopher.  The 
Rabbi  embodies  his  lesson  in  a  story,  whether  parable 
or  allegory  or  seeming  historical  narrative  ;  and  the  last 
thing  he  or  his  disciples  would  think  of  is  to  ask  whether 
the  selected  persons,  events,  and  circumstances  which 
so  vividly  suggest  the  doctrine  are  in  themselves  real  or 


1  The  Book  of  Jubilees,  translated  into  English  by  R.  H.  Charles 
(London,  1902).  Jubilees,  according  to  Charles,  was  originally- 
written  in  Hebrew  by  a  Pharisee,  an  upholder  of  the  Maccabean 
dynasty,  between  135  and  105  B.C.  It  exists  in  an  Ethiopia 
text.     See  p.  36. 


78      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

fictitious.  The  doctrine  is  everything  ;  the  mode  of 
presentation  has  no  independent  value.  To  make  the 
story  the  first  consideration,  and  the  doctrine  it  was 
intended  to  convey  an  afterthought  as  we,  with  our  dry 
Western  Hteralness,  are  predisposed  to  do,  is  to  reverse 
the  Jewish  order  of  thinking,  and  to  do  unconscious 
injustice  to  the  authors  of  many  edifying  narratives  of 
antiquity."  ' 

II.    The  Principal  Rabbinical  Collections  of 

THE    MiDRASH. 

The  Midrashic  literature  of  Rabbinical  Judaism  has 
been  embodied  in  various  collections  of  various  date  and 
value.  The  more  important  of  the  Midrashim  we  here 
proceed  to  enumerate. 

A.     The  Halakic  Midrashim. 

1.  The  Mekilta,  lit.  "  measure,"  "  rule,"  a  Midrash  to 

Exodus,  from  ch.  12  to  23^®,  with  the  addition 
of  two  short  comments  on  3112-17  ^^^  35'"'  (the 
law  of  the  Sabbath).  Hebrew  text  (with  intro- 
duction and  notes  in  Hebrew)  edited  by  I.  H. 
Weiss  (Vienna,  1865)  and  by  M.  Friedmann 
(Vienna,  1870). 

2.  The  Sifra,  lit.   "  the   Book  "   (or  Torath  Kohanim, 

"  Law  of  Priests  ")  on  Leviticus.  Hebrew  text 
with  notes  by  I.  H.  Weiss  (Vienna,  1862). 

3.  The  Sifre,  lit.  "  Books  "  on  Numbers  5  to  end,  and 

the    whole    of    Deuteronomy.     Best    ed.    of    the 

Hebrew    text    (with    introduction    and    notes    in 

Hebrew)  that  of  M.  Friedmann  (Vienna,  1864). 

A  Latin  translation  of   these  three  works   is  given  (with 

Hebrew  text)  in  UgoHni's  Thesaurus,'Vols.  XIV,  XV  (Vienna, 

1752),  but  is  more  or  less  useless.     No  other  translation  has 

yet  been  published. 

1  Introduction  to  The  Song  of  the  Three  Holy  Children  in  the 
Speaker's  Commentary  on  the  Apocrypha.  Vol.  II,  p.   307. 


HALAKIC   MIDRASHIM  79 

This  group  is  of  first-rate  importance.  In  their  original 
form  these  Midrashim  go  back  to  the  earlier  part  of  the 
second  century,  a.d.  (to  a  time  anterior  to  the  Bar-Kokba 
revolt,  132-135  A.D.),  The  disciples  of  Rabbi  Jochanan 
b.  Zakkai,  viz.,  Ishmael,  Akiba  and  Eleazar  of  Modin,^ 
appear  to  have  redacted  the  principal  contents  of  the 
exposition  on  the  basis  of  the  still  older  and  anonymous 
stratum  of  the  exegetical  tradition.  It  is  true,  teachers 
are  mentioned  who  lived  till  the  last  quarter  of  the  second 
century,  but  rarely,  and  usually  with  indications  of  the 
previous  existence  of  the  comment  for  which  they  are 
made  responsible. 

The  Mekilta  embodies  the  tradition  mainly  of  R. 
Ishmael's  School  ;  Sifra  (on  Leviticus)  that  of  the  School 
of  R.  Akiba  with  additions  from  the  School  of 
R.  Ishmael ;  Sifre  (on  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy)  is 
also  a  composite  work  like  Sifra,  going  back  mainly  to 
the  schools  of  R.  Akiba  and  R.  Ishmael. 

In  their  present  final  form  all  three  works,  after  being 
brought  from  Palestine  to  Babylonia,  were  edited  in  the 
Babylonian  Schools  (fourth  to  fifth  centur}^  a.d.).  Sifre 
on  Deuteronomy  is  akin  to  the  Mekilta,  while  Sifra  (on 
Leviticus)  and  Sifre  on  Numbers  are  more  controversial 
in  tone. 

The  importance  of  these  collections  for  the  student  of 
the  New  Testament  is  very  considerable,  A  large  part 
of  the  material  embodied  in  them  goes  back  to  the  time 
of  the  Apostles'  contemporaries  and  gives  us  an  insight 
into  the  spiritual  forces  that  affected  the  Jerusalem  of 
the  first  Christian  century.  The  most  valuable  collection 
of  material  from  every  point  of  view  is  undoubtedly 
that  embodied  in  Mekilta. 

The  'striking  essay  of  Schlatter  {Die  Sprache  und  Heimat 
des  rierten  Evangelisten,  1902)  brings  out  in  detail  the  paral- 
lehsm  that  exists  between  the  language  and  phraseology  of 
the  Fourth  Gospel  and  that  of   earlier  Jewish  exegesis,  as 


These  Rabbis  flourished  about  120-140  a.d. 


80      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

embodied  mainly  in  these  works  :  e.g.,  the  phrase  "  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world,"  John  i »,  has  its  analogue 
in  a  regular  and  recurring  phrase  that  occurs  in  Mekilta 
Sifra  and  Sifre,  viz.,  "  all  who  come  into  the  world  "  ;  "  Thou 
art  deliverance  for  all  who  come  into  the  world,  but  especially 
for  Israel"  (Mek.  to  Ex.  15^),  may  be  instanced.  The 
phraseology  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  is  Jewish  through  and 
through. 

All  three  midrashim  are  halakic  in  character,  but  with 
a  considerable  admixture  of  haggadah. 

The  halakic  midrashim  may  be  regarded  as  the  result 
of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  of  the  Law  to 
justify  in  a  popular  way,  Halakah  or  traditional  rules 
and  laws  of  hfe  and  ritual  against  the  objections  of  the 
Sadducees  by  deducing  them  from  the  text  of  Scripture. 

"  The  Talmud  does  this  in  the  form  of  a  commentary 
on  the  Halakah  ;  it  takes  tradition  by  tradition  and 
seeks  a  Biblical  basis  for  each.  In  the  halakic  Midrash, 
however,  another  course  was  adopted.  A  running  com- 
mentary was  compiled  to  the  legal  parts  of  the  Pentateuch ; 
verse  by  verse  the  halakah  was  derived  from  the  text."  ^ 

One  or  two  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  character 
of  these  commentaries.  An  instance  of  halakic  Midrash 
occurs  in  the  Mekilta  on  Ex.  202 ^ :  "  And  if  thou  wilt  make 
me  an  altar  of  stone,  thou  shalt  not  build  it  (an  unusual  form 
of  the  objective  pronoun  is  used  here  in  the  Hebrew  text) 
of  hewn  stone  :  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  iron  tool  upon  it, 
thou  hast  polluted  it."  The  Midrash  here  emphasizes  the 
unusual  form  of  the  objective  pronoun  "  it,"  and  deduces 
the  conclusion  that  the  prohibition  of  hewn  stones  is  restricted 
to  the  altar  only,  but  in  building  the  Temple  such  stones 
may  be  used.  Further — and  this  is  an  instance  of  haggadic 
Midrash — the  Midrash  goes  on  to  explain  "  why  the  apphca- 
tion  of  iron  is  here  called  a  pollution  of  the  altar  ;  it  is  because 
iron  abridges  life,  while  the  altar  prolongs  it,  iron  causes 
destruction  and  misery,  while  the  altar  produces  reconcilia- 
tion between  God  and  man  ;  and  therefore  the  use  of  iron 
cannot  be  allowed  in  making  the  altar."  ^  The  following  is 
translated  from  Sifra  on  Lev.  iQi'-^* :  'Thou  shalt  not  be 
resentful.      What  is  meant  by  being  resentful  ?      When  one 

1  Abrahams,  A  Short  History  of  Jeivish  Literature  (1906),  p.  30. 

2  Mielziner,  Introduction  to  the  Talmud  (Chicago,  1894),  p.  119- 


HAGGADIC   MIDRASHIM  81 

person  says  to  another,  "  Lend  me  your  axe,"  and  he  will 
not  lend  it  ;  then  on  the  following  day  the  latter  says  to  the 
former,  "  Lend  me  your  sickle,"  whereupon  he  says,  "  Here 
it  is  ;  I  am  not  hke  you  who  refuse  to  lend  me  your  axe." 
Therefore  is  it  written,  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  vengeance," 
and  "Love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself;"  R.  Akiba  says,  "This 
is  the  great  principle  of  the  Torah."  '  ' 

B.   The  Haggadic  Midrash  on  the  Pentateuch  and 

Five  Scrolls  [Megilloth). 
Those  parts  of  Scripture  which  are  most  frequently 
read  in  the  pubhc  services  of  the  Synagogue  naturally 
became  the  chief  subject  of  Midrashic  exposition,  or 
formed  the  basis  of  homiletical  midrashic  discourses  : 
viz.,  the  Torah  or  Pentateuch  in  the  first  place,  with  the 
"  five  Megilloth  "  or  "  Scrolls  "  (Canticles,  Ruth,  Lamenta- 
tations,  Ecclesiastes,  and  Esther)  which  are  read  through 
at  five  great  festivals  or  fasts  ;  ^  and,  lastly,  the  lections 
from  the  Prophets  (the  Haftaroth). 

The  midrashim  on  the  Pentateuch  and  the  five  Megilloth 
form  a  well-defined  group  by  themselves.  The  most 
widely  known  collection  of  this  kind  is  the  so-called 
"  Midrash  Rabbah,"  a  full  midrash  on  each  of  the  Penta- 
teuchal  Books,  and  each  of  the  five  "  Scrolls."  Though 
now  always  treated  as  a  collective  whole,  and  edited  as 
such  ,3  the  so-called  Midrash  Rabbah  is  a  very  composite 
work.  It  consists  of  the  following  exegetical  and 
homiletical  midrashim  : 

I.  Bereshith  Rabbah,  an  exegetical  midrash  on  Genesis. 
This  is  the  oldest  and  most  important  of  the  purely 
haggadic    midrashim,    and    has    quite    a    distinct 

»  Cited  in  JE  viii,  555. 

»  Canticles  is  read  at  Passover  (being  allegorically  interpreted 
of  the  Exodus  from  Egypt),  Ruth  at  the  Feast  of  Weeks  (Harvest), 
Lamentations  on  the  9th  of  Ab  (in  memory  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple).  Ecclesiastes  at  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  (Sukkoth) 
and  Esther  at  Purim.     See  further  ch.  xix. 

»  A  German  translation  of  the  entire  Midrash  Rabbah  (Penta- 
teuch and  Megilloth)  was  published  in  ten  parts  by  Dr.  A.  Wiinsche 
{in  Biblioiheca  Rabbinica  :  Leipzig,  1 880-1 885). 


82      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

character  of  its  own  as  compared  with  the  other 
representatives  of  the  latter  class.  In  its  original 
form  it  was,  according  to  tradition,  composed  by 
R.  Hoshaiah,  in  the  third  century,  in  Palestine. 
It  was  not  improbably  designed  at  first  to  form  a 
supplement  to  the  halakic  midrashim  Mekilta, 
Sifra  and  Sifre  with  which  it  would  complete  the 
cycle  of  Pentateuchal  Books.  According  to  Zunz  it 
was  edited  in  its  present  form  (mainly)  in  the  sixth 
century,  but  later  interpolations  have  been  added. 
The  last  section,  from  Genesis  48^8  onward  (begin- 
ning: "And  Jacob  lived  "=  Hebrew  Wayechi  : 
hence  called  "Wayechi  Rabhah"),  is  usually 
regarded  as  a  composition  of  much  later  date, 
according  to  Zunz  of  the  eleventh  or  twelfth 
century.i  A  critical  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text 
has  been  issued  by  J.  Theodor. 

The  following  brief  extract  from  this  Midrash 
(part  of  the  long  comment  on  Gen.  i^s,  "  Let  us  make 
man,  etc.")  may  be  cited  here  by  way  of  illustration  : 

"  R.  Huna  the  Elder  of  Sepphoris  said  :  "  WTiile 
the  angels  were  disputing  and  discussing  with  one 
another,  the  Holy  One,  praised  be  He,  created  him 
[man]."  R.  Huna  in  the  name  of  R.  Aibu  said  : 
"  He  created  him  with  circumspection,  for  He  created 
first  the  things  necessary  for  his  life."  Then  the 
angels  spoke  before  the  Holy  One,  praised  be  He  : 
"  Lord  of  the  World,  what  is  man  that  Thou  art 
mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man  that  thou  visitest 
him  ?  Why  should  this  sorrow  be  created  ?  "  Then 
He  said  to  them  :  "  Why  have  all  sheep  and  oxen 
been  created,  the  fowl  of  the  air  and  the  fish  of  the 
sea — why  have  these  been  created  ?  A  castle  with 
all  good  things,  and  there  are  no  guests  ;  what 
pleasure  has  the  owner  who  takes  his  fill  ?  "  Then 
the  angels  said  :  "  O  Lord  our  Lord,  how  excellent 
is  Thy  name  in  all  the  earth  !  Do  what  seems  best 
to  Thee." 


1  This,  however,  is  denied  by  Dr.  M.  Margel  in  his  valuable 
essay  on  Der  Segen  Jakohs  ("  The  Blessing  of  Jacob  ")  as  regards 
the  sections  deaUng  with  Genesis  49. 


EXEGETICAL   MIDRASHIM  83 

2.  Ekah  Rahhati,  an  exegetical  midrash    on  Lamenta- 

tions. This  also  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  Pales- 
tinian midrashim.  According  to  Zunz  it  was 
compiled  in  the  second  half  of  the  seventh  century. 
There  are  many  passages  in  it  which  have  parallels 
in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  derived  in  each  case 
probably  from  older  common  sources. 

The  following  extract  is  part  of  the  comment  on 
Lam.    1 1  : 

How  [Heb.  Ekah]  doth  the  city  sit  solitary.  Three 
prophets  used  the  expression.  Ekah  ("  how  ")  in 
their  prophecies — Moses,  Isaiah,  and  Jeremiah — 
Moses  said :  "  How  can  I  myself  alone  bear  .  .  .  ." 
(Deut.  ii'')  ;  Isaiah  said,  "How  is  the  faithful  city 
become  an  harlot  !  "  (i^'O  ;  Jeremiah  said  :  "  How 
doth  she  sit  solitary."  R.  Levi  said  :  "  It  is  like  a 
noble  woman  [matron]  who  had  three  friends  :  one 
of  them  saw  her  in  her  honour  ;  another  saw  her  in 
her  abandon;  and  the  third  saw  her  in  her  sorrow." 
Moses  saw  them  [the  Israelites]  in  their  honour 
[their  happiness]  and  said,  "  How  can  I  myself  alone 
bear  "  ;  Isaiah  saw  them  in  their  abandon,  and  said, 
"  How  is  (she)  become  an  harlot  "  ;  Jeremiah  saw 
them  in  their  sorrow,  and  said  :  "  How  doth  she  sit 
solitary." 

The  midrashim  belonging  to  the  "  Rabbah"  collection 
on  the  other  four  Megilloth  are  also  exegetical  in 
character :  viz. : 

3.  Shir    ha-Shirim    Rabbah,^    on    Canticles.      At     a 

very  early  date  Canticles  became  the  subject  of 
midrashic  exposition.  R.  Akiba  interpreted  it 
allegorically  of  the  relation  between  God  and 
Israel.  It  was  also  applied  allegorically  to  the 
Exodus  from  Egypt.  Many  traces  of  this  old 
allegorical  interpretation  survive  in  the  present 
midrash  (as  also  in  single  verses  quoted  in  Mekilta, 
Sifre  and  the  Talmud) .  The  midrash  in  its  present 
form  is  a  compilation  of  material  of  various  date 

1  Sometimes   also   called,  from   its   opening  (Hebrew)  words, 

Agadath  chazith. 


84       SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  origin,  and  is  dependent  both  on  the  Pesikta 
and  Wayyikra  Rabbah  (see  below)  and  also  on 
the  Jerusalem  Talmud  and  Bereshith  Rabbah. 

Two  other  Midrashim  to  Canticles  have  been 
recovered  within  recent  years,  viz.,  the  Agadath  Shir 
ha-Shirim,  published  by  S.  Schechter  (Cambridge, 
1896),  and  by  S.  Buber  in  Midrasch  Suta  pp.  1-41 
(Berlin,  1894)  ;  and  the  Midrash  Shir  ha-shirim, 
pubhshed  by  Griinhut  (1897). 

4.  Midrash  Ruth,  on  Ruth  {Ruth  Rabbah).     This  is  an 

interesting  work,  dependent  on  much  the  same 
authorities  as  the  preceding,  and  of  about  the  same 
date.  It  contains  some  interesting  references  to 
the  Messiah,  and  its  exegesis  has  many  interesting 
points. 

The  midrash  on  Ruth  published  by  Buber  in  his 
Midrasch  Suta  (pp.  45-56),  is  an  entirely  different 
work. 

5.  Midrash   Koheleth  (or  Koheleth  Rabbah),  on  Ecclesi- 

astes.  A  comparatively  late  compilation ;  it  borrows 
material  from  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  introductory 
sections  from  Bereshith  Rabbah,  Ekah  Rabbati, 
Wayyikra  Rabbah,  Pesikta,  and  Shir  ha-Shirim 
Rabbah,  and  also  from  the  Babylonian  Talmud. 

The  midrash  on  Koheleth  published  by  Buber  in 
Midrasch  Suta  (pp.  83-144)  is  apparently  an  extract 
from  Midrash  Koheleth  Rabbah  with  additions. 

6.  Midrash  Megillath  Esther,  on  Esther,  of  Palestinian 

origin.  It  uses  much  the  same  sources  as  the 
preceding  midrash  (Koheleth).  It  contains  an 
extract  from  Josippon  (tenth  century)  giving 
the  story  of  Mordecai's  dream  and  prayer,  and 
of  Esther's  prayer:  but  this  is  probably  an 
interpolation. 

Several  midrashim  are  extant  of  this  Book  (as  also 
more  than  one  Targum,  see  ch.  iv,  §  i  above).  It 
enjoyed  great  popularity  in  connexion  with  the 
popular   feast  of  Purim. 


HOMILETIC   MIDRASHIM  85 

The  remaining  midrashim  in  the  "Midrash  Rabbah" 
collection  are  in  the  nature  rather  of  homihes  (sermons) 
than  of  set  comments  on  the  text  of  the  particular  books 
(verse  by  verse).  The  Scripture  sections  for  the  Sabbath 
or  Festival  were  taken  as  subjects  for  haggadic  discourses. 
These  homilies  consist  usually  of  introductions  (proems) 
followed  by  an  exposition  of  the  opening  verses  and 
verse-texts  of  the  Scriptural  lesson,  and  ending  with  "  a 
Messianic  or  other  comforting  verse."  They  are  thus 
mainly  homiletical  in  character  with  an  admixture  of 
exegesis. 

They  are  as  follows  : — 

7.  Wayyikra  Rabbah,  on  Leviticus,  belonging    to  the 

older  Midrashim.  According  to  Zunz  it  was 
compiled  in  Palestine  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century.  It  is  distinguished  by  its  frequent 
use   of  proverbial  sayings. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  examples  quoted  : 
"  If  you  have  knowledge  what  do  you  lack  ?  If 
you  lack  knowledge  what  do  you  possess  ?  "  "  Who- 
ever lends  on  interest  destroys  his  own  and  other 
property."  "  Whoever  leases  one  garden  eats  birds  ; 
whoever  leases  two  gardens  is  eaten  by  birds." 

8.  Debarim  Rabbah,  on  Deuteronomy.     This  midrash 

contains  25  homihes  as  well  as  two  fragments  of 
homilies  on  sections  of  Deuteronomy.  According 
to  Zunz  it  was  compiled  about  the  year  900. 

g.  Bemidbar  Rabbah,  on  Numbers.  This  is  a  compo- 
site work.  According  to  Zunz  it  is  a  combination 
of  the  work  of  two  different  authors,  the  later  of 
whom  lived  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  main 
part  of  the  work  is  an  extract  (with  some  variations 
and  additions)  from  Tanchuma  (for  which  see 
below). 

10.  Shemoth  Rabbah  on  Exodus.  This  midrash  also 
appears  to  be  composite  in  character.  The  first 
part  down  to  Ex.  12^  (where  the  Mekilta  begins) 
may  possibly  be  based  on  an  earlier  exegetical 


86      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

midrash     which      continued     Bereshith      Rabbah 
[from  Gen.   472^]   Wayyechi  Rabbah.      According 
to  Zunz  the  complete  midrash  was  only  compiled 
in    the    eleventh    or   twelfth    century.     Thus    the 
Midrash  Rabbah  to  Exodus,  though  in  the  usual 
editions   it   immediately   follows  that   to   Genesis 
{Bereshith  Rabbah),"  is  separated  from  the  latter 
by  500  years  "   (Zunz). 
The  midrashim  numbered  i-io  above  constitute  the 
so-called  Midrash  Rabbah  (or  Rabboth).     In  the  printed 
editions  they  follow  the  Hebrew  order  of  the  Biblical 
Books    (Genesis,   Exodus,   Leviticus,   Numbers,  Deuter- 
onomy    Canticles,     Ruth,    Lamentations,    Ecclesiastes, 
Esther). 

C.  The  Haggadic  [homiletic]  Midrashim  on  the  Pentatenchal 
and  Prophetic  Lessons. 

Besides  the  "  Midrash  Rabbah  "  there  is  an  important 
group  of  homiletic  midrashim  based  on  the  Scripture 
sections  fixed  as  lessons  for  festival  days  and  special 
Sabbaths,  as  well  as  for  ordinary  Sabbaths.  Hence  one 
of  the  names  apphed  to  some  of  these  collections, Pm^/^ 
(pi.  Pesiktoth  "  sections  ").  They  are,  in  fact,  sermons 
based  on  the  lectionary  of  the  Synagogue.  As  has 
already  been  pointed  out,  the  *' Midrash  Rabbah  "  includes 
works  of  this  kind  (viz.  Wayyikra  Rabbah,  Deharim  Rabbah, 
Bemidbar  Rabbah,  and  Shemoth  Rabbah),  and  their  general 
character  has  already  been  indicated  above. 

The  most  important  collections  of  this  kind  are  the 
following  : 

I.  The  Pesikta  de-Rab  Kahana  (or  Pesikta  simply). 
The  main  body  of  this  work  is  undoubtedly  old  ; 
it  must  rank  with  Bereshith  Rabbah  and  Ekah 
Rabbati,  and  is  possibly  earlier  than  these  in  origin. 
It  consists  of  33  (or  34)  homihes  which  are  based 
on   special  Pentateuchal   and    Prophetic    lessons. 


PESIKTA  87 


It  is  a  Palestinian  work.     Text  by  Buber  {il 
German  translation  by  Wiinsche  (1885). 

The  following  passage  from  one  of  the  homilies 
which  is  based  on  the  words  :  "He  hath  clothed  me 
with  garments  of  Salvation"  (Is.  6ii«),  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  character  of  this  midrash,  and  is  also 
interesting  as  being  founded  on  the  chapter  whence 
Christ  took  the  text  of  His  address  in  the  sjmagogue 
at  Nazareth.  It  may  perhaps  illustrate  the  character 
of  contemporary  Jewish  sermons  in  the  first  century, 
A.D.i  It  is  translated  from  pp.  149  a  and  b  of  Buber's 
edition  (  =  p.  213  in  Wiinsche's  translation). 2 

"  Seven  garments  the  Holy  One — blessed  be  He- 
has  put  on,  and  will  put  on  from  the  time  the  world 
was  created  until  the  hour  when  He  will  punish  the 
wicked  Edom  (  =  the  Roman  Empire).  When  He 
created  the  world,  He  clothed  Himself  in  honour  and 
majesty,  as  it  is  said  (Ps.  104.1)  :  '  Thou  art  clothed 
in  honour  and  majesty.'  Whenever  He  forgave 
Israel's  sins  He  clothed  Himself  in  white  ;  for  we 
read  (Dan.  7»)  :  '  His  garment  was  white  as  snow.' 
When  He  punishes  the  people  of  the  world,  He  puts 
on  the  garment  of  vengeance,  as  it  is  said  (Is.  59-^')  = 
'  He  put  on  the  garments  of  vengeance  for  clothing  and 
was  clad  with  zeal  as  a  cloak.'  The  sixth  garment 
He  will  put  on  when  the  Messiah  comes  ;  then  He 
will  clothe  Himself  in  a  garment  of  righteousness,  for 
it  is  said  :  '  And  He  puts  on  righteousness  as  a  breast- 
plate, and  an  helmet  of  salvation  upon  His  head.* 
The  seventh  garment  he  will  put  on  when  He  punishes 
Edom  ;  then  He  will  clothe  Himself  in  Adorn— i.e., 
red  ;  for  it  is  said  (Is.  632)  :  '  Wherefore  art  Thou 
red  in  Thine  apparel  ?  '  But  the  garment  which  He 
will  put  upon  the  Messiah,  this  will  shine  far,  from 
one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other  ;  for  it  is  said  (Is. 
61'"):  'As  a  bridegroom  dccketh  himself  with  a 
garland.'  And  the  Israelites  will  partake  of  His 
light,  and  will  speak  : 

'  Blessed  is  the  hour  when  the  Messiah  shall  come  ! 

'  Blessed  the  womb  out  of  which  He  shall  come  ! 

'  Blessed  his  contemporaries  who  are  eye-witnesses  ! 

'  Blessed  the  eye  that  is  honoured  with  a  sight  of 
him. 


1  Cf.  F.  Delitzsch  A  Day  in  Capernaum  {ET,    p.   iSSf-)- 
'  It  recurs     with    sHght    variations    in     Pesikta    rabbati    (ed. 
Friedmann,  pp.    163b  164). 


88      SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

'  For  the  opening  of  his  lips  is  blessing  and  peace  ; 

'  His  speech  is  a  moving  of  the  spirits  ; 

'  The  thoughts  of  his  heart  are  confidence  and  cheer- 
fulness ; 

'  The  speech  of  his  tongue  is  pardon  and  forgiveness. 

'  His  prayer  is  the  sweet  incense  of  offerings  ; 

'  His  petitions  are  holiness  and  purity. 

'  Oh,  how  blessed  is  Israel  for  whom  such  has  been 
prepared  !  ' 

For  it  is  said  (Ps.  31 1*):  'How  great  is  Thy  good- 
ness which  Thou  hast  laid  up  for  them  that  fear 
Thee  !  '  " 

2.  Pesikta    rahbati.     This    collection    also    consists    of 

homilies  on  the  Pentateiichal  and  Prophetic  lessons, 
etc,  "  Rabbati  "  =  ("  the  larger  ")  was  probably 
added  to  the  title  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
earlier  Pesikta,  with  which  it  has  affinities.  It 
is  considerably  more  extensive  than  the  latter. 
According  to  Zimz  it  was  compiled  in  the  second 
half  of  the  ninth  century.  In  its  extant  form  the 
text  is  probably  defective.  A  critical  edition  was 
published  by  M,  Friedmann  at  Vienna  in  1880. 
No  translation  has  yet  appeared. 

A  midrash  on  the  Pentateuch  and  five  megilloth 
by  R.  Tobia  ben  Elieser  of  Mainz  (twelfth  century), 
has  acquired  the  name  of  Pesikta  sutarta  ;  but  this 
work  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  true  Pesikta 
collections,  and  its  name  must  have  arisen  by  mistake. 
A  Latin  translation  is  given  in  Ugolini,  Vols.  XV  and 
XVI. 

3.  Tanchuma   Yelammedenu.     The  Midrash  Tanchuma 

(so  called  because  containing  many  homilies  that 
originated  with  the  famous  Haggadist  R.  Tanchuma 
b.  Abba  of  Palestine  ^)  covers  the  entire  Pentateuch 
as  divided  into  "  sedarim  "  or  portions.  It  also 
contains  discourses  for  special  feast-days  and 
Sabbaths  (like  the  Pesikta).  The  homilies  of  the 
Tanchuma  are  constructed  according  to  a  regular 
plan ;     they   consist    of   a    halakic    introduction, 

*  Flourished  towards  end  of  fourth  century. 


"  YELAMMEDENU  "  89 

followed  by  several  proems,  exposition  of  the 
opening  verses,  and  the  Messianic  conclusion. 

The  name  "  Yelammedenu  !"  is  derived  from  the  open- 
ing formula  "Yelammedenu  rabbenu  "  (  =  "our 
teacher  teaches  us ")  with  which  the  halakic 
exordium  begins.  By  many  old  authors  the 
midrasli  is  cited  under  the  name  of  "  Tanchuma  " 
("  Midrash  Tanchuma  "),  and,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out,  a  number  of  the  proems  are  actually 
assigned  to  this  Rabbi  (the  formula  "  Thus  R. 
Tanchuma  expounded,"  is  also  appended  to  some 
of  the  larger  sections).  But  the  compiler  of  the 
Yalkut  Shimeoni  (for  which  see  below)  quotes  from 
two  distinct  midrashic  works,  one  under  the 
name  "  Yelammedenu,"  the  other  under  that  of 
"  Tanchuma."  The  original  Tanchuma  (I)  is 
represented  in  Buber's  critical  edition  [Midrash 
Tanchuma,  3  vols.  Wilna,  1885),  the  text  of 
which  was  collected  from  several  MSS.  This  work, 
consisting  of  homilies  on  the  weekly  sections  of 
the  Pentateuch,  is  perhaps  the  oldest  Haggadic 
collection  extant,  older  even  than  Bereshith  Rabbah 
which  cites  it.  It  was  probably  edited  in  its 
present  form  in  the  fifth  century,  before  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Babylonian  Talmud.  It  is  quoted 
in  other  midrashic  collections  (e.g. ,  in  the  Rabbah, 
Pesikta  and  Pesikta  rabbati)  and  is  of  great 
importance.  No  translation  of  Buber's  edition 
has  yet  appeared. 

The  original  "  Yelammedenu "  is  known  only  as 
embodied  in  the  composite  text  of  the  ordinary 
editions  of  Tanchuma  (the  sections  beginning 
"  Yelammedenu  rabbenu  ")  and  in  citations.  The 
ordinary  editions  of  Tanchiwia  represent  a  com- 
bination of  Tanchuma  (I)  and  the  original "  Yelam- 
medenu "  with  several  additions  (especially  from 
the  Babylonian  Talmud). 


90      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

4.  Aggadath  Bereshith,  a  collection  of  homilies  to  a 
number  of  "  portions  "  {sedarim)  of  Genesis.  It 
contains  83  homilies,  each  of  which  (with  two 
exceptions)  "  is  in  three  sections,  so  arranged  that 
the  first  one  connects  with  a  seder  from  Genesis, 
the  second  with  a  prophetic  section  (which  may 
be  regarded  as  the  haftarah  to  this  seder)  and  the 
third  with  a  psalm  (which,  perhaps,  was  recited 
during  worship  on  the  Sabbath  for  which  this  seder 
was  a  lesson)."  ^  The  prophetic  sections  seem 
to  follow  a  three-year  cycle  of  sedarim,  i.e.,  the 
ancient  three-year  lectionary  which  preceded  the 
present  one-year  cycle  of  lessons. ^  The  best 
edition  of  the  text  is  that  of  Buber  (Cracow,  1903). 
It  has  not  been  translated. 

D.  Other  Important  Midrashic  Collections. 

Many  midrashim  are  cited  in  old  authors  which  have 
been  lost.  Besides  those  midrashic  works  which  have 
already  been  enumerated,  the  following  call  for  mention  : 
I.  Pirke  de  Rabbi  Eliezer  or  Baraitha  de  Rabbi  Eliezer, 
a  Haggadic  work  in  54  chapters.  It  is  neither 
homiletic  nor  exegetic  in  character,  but  is  a  mid- 
rashic narrative  of  the  more  important  events 
recorded  in  the  Pentateuch  (the  story  of  creation, 
the  history  of  the  patriarchs  and  the  Mosaic  age). 
It  is  similar  in  general  character  to  the  Book  of 
Jubilees,  which  gives  a  haggadic  version  of  the 
Biblical  Genesis.  It  contains  much  interesting 
eschatological  material.  The  "  Eliezer  "  of  the 
title  is  the  famous  R.  Eliezer  b.  Hyrcanus  (end  of 
first  century,  a.d.)  ;  but  the  present  work  cannot 
have  been  composed,  according  to  Zunz,  before 
the  eighth  century.     The  author  was  a  Palestinian. 

1  JE  VIII,   563. 

2  See  further  ch.  xviii  on  this  point. 


MIDRASHIC   LITERATURE  91 

A  Latin  translation  was  published  by  Vorstius, 
under  the  title  Capitula  R.  Elicsey  ex  HebrcBO  in 
Latinum   translata  (Lugd.  Bat.    1644). 

Midrash  TehilUm,  midrash  on  the  Psalms.  This 
collection  has  been  known  since  the  eleventh 
century.  (It  is  also  sometimes  called  Aggadath 
or  H aggadath  TehilUm  ;  and,  from  its  opening 
words,  "  Shochcr  tob.")  The  true  midrash  covers 
only  Pss.  I -1 18,  but  an  appendix  covering  the 
rest  was  compiled  later,  and  appears  in  the 
printed  edition.  The  work  appears  to  be  a 
composite  one,  and  includes  some  very  ancient 
material.  It  was  compiled  in  Palestine.  It  is 
partly  homiletic,  partly  exegetic  in  character, 
and  contains  much  interesting  matter  (in  the 
shape  of  stories,  legends,  parables,  proverbs, 
etc.).  A  valuable  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text  was 
published  by  Ruber,  Midrasch  TehilUm  :  Schocher 
Tob  :  (Wilna,  1891),  and  a  German  translation  of 
this  text  by  Dr.  A.  Wiinsche  {Midrasch  TehilUm  : 
2  vols.  Trier)  in  1892-3. 

Yalkut  Shimeoni,^  an  immense  thesaurus  of  mid- 
rashic  material  covering  the  entire  text  of  the  Old 
Testament.  It  is  a  work  similar  in  character  to 
the  patristic  catencB,  consisting  of  extracts  drawn 
from  various  midrashim,  arranged  under  the 
separate  passages  commented  on.  The  Yalkut  is 
valuable  for  critical  purposes,  in  fixing  the  readings 
of  midrashic  texts.  Its  citations  cover  nearly  the 
whole  range  of  the  Talmudic-midrashic  literature  ; 
but  it  does  not  quote  Shcmoth  and  Bemidhbar  in 
the  Midrash  Rabbah,  nor  the  midrashim  to  Ecclesi- 
astes  and  Esther  in  the  same  collection.  The 
editio    princeps    is    that    of   Salonica    (1526-27 ; 


>  Ya/^i M/ ="  collection  "  (the  same  word  is  rendered  "scrip 
in  I  Sam  17*").  Yalkut  Shimeoni="  Simeon's  Collection. 
Who  the  Simeon  referred  to  was  is  unknown. 


92      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

1521)  :  a  recent  edition  appeared  at  Warsaw, 
(1876-77) .  A  translation  of  the  Yalkut  on  Zechariah 
by  E.  G.  King  was  published  at  Cambridge  in  1882. 

4.  Yalkut  ha-Makiri,  a  somewhat    similar    collection 

to  the  above  (but  only  covering  certain  books 
of  the  Bible),  made  by  Machir  b.  Abba  Mari  (about 
whom  nothing  is  known).  It  is  probably  a 
later  work  than  the  Yalkut  Shimeoni.  Here 
again  there  is  much  valuable  material  for  text- 
critical  purposes.  The  following  parts  of  this 
midrash  have  been  pubhshed  :  viz. ,  on  the  Psalms 
(ed.  by  Buber,  1899),  on  Isaiah  (ed.  Spira,  Berlin, 
1894),  and  on  Proverbs  (ed.  Griinhut,  1902). 

5.  Midrash  ha-Gadol,   an    even    more   comprehensive 

collection  than  the  above,  containing  quotations 
from  the  Targumim,  the  mystical  books  and  the 
Rabbinical  writings  (all  of  which  are  ignored  in 
the  Yalkuts),  as  well  as  citations  from  the  earlier 
literature.  The  part  on  Genesis  has  been  published 
by  Schechter  (Cambridge,  1902). 

III.  Some  Characteristics  of  the  Midrashic  Litera- 
ture AND  SOME  New  Testament  Illustrations. 
From  what  has  been  said  above  some  idea  of  the  extent 
and  importance  of  the  midrashic  Hterature  will  have 
been  gained  by  the  reader.  The  study  and  cultivation 
of  the  Haggadah  which  finds  its  freest  expression  in  the 
midrash  has  enjoyed  great  popularity  at  various  times 
among  the  Jews,  and  in  its  various  forms  has  been 
developed  with  marvellous  energy  and  ingenuity. 
Parables,  stories,  maxims,  proverbs,  folk-lore,  fables  and 
ohiter  dicta  of  all  kinds  find  untrammelled  expression  in 
this  vast  collection.  The  haggadic  midrash  thus  afforded 
an  outlet  for  the  freest  expression  of  individual  opinions, 
and  is  warm  with  human  interest.  The  exegetical  mid- 
rashim  possess  unique  importance  for  elucidating  the 
history  of  Rabbinical  exegesis  (the  artificial  methods  of 


RABBINICAL   EXEGESIS  93 

interpretation  embodied  in  R.  Ishmael's  thirteen  rules, 
etc.).  The  midrash  (especially  in  its  halakic  portions) 
is  largely  founded  on  these  systems  (the  rival  systems  of  R. 
Ishmael  and  Akiba  were,  later,  combined) .  An  example 
may  here  be  cited  which  possesses  a  curious  interest. 
It  is  a  midrashic  passage  assigned,  on  the  authority  of 
the  famous  Spanish  Dominican  monk  Raymundus  Martini 
(thirteenth  century),  to  the  well  known  Gahlean  Rabbi 
Jose  (second  century  a.d.),i  who  in  it  draws  a  parallel 
and  a  contrast  between  the  suffering  Messiah  of  Isa.  53 
and  the  first  Adam,  which  irresistibly  reminds  us  of  Rom. 
5  i«~i8_  Here  it  is  cited  as  exemplifying  the  Rabbinical 
method  of  reasoning  a  tninori  ad  majus.  It  runs  as 
follows  : — 

Deduce,  moreover,  a  conclusion  as  to  the  merit  of  King 
Messiah  and  the  reward  of  the  righteous  from  that  first 
Adam  :  the  latter  transgressed  but  one  divine  command, 
and  see  !  with  how  many  deaths  this  transgression  has 
been  punished  again  and  again  in  him  and  the  following 
generations.  Which  power,  then,  is  the  greater,  that  of 
goodness  or  of  retribution  ?  The  power  of  goodness  has  the 
predominance.  For  King  Messiah,  who  has  borne  in  himself 
sufferings  and  anguish  for  transgressors,  as  it  is  said  (Isa.  536), 
He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions — how  much  more  will 
his  sufferings  be  meritorious  for  all  generations,  as  it  is 
written  (Isa.  53*)  :  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.^ 

Of  pure  Haggadah  there  is  a  striking  instance  in  i  Cor. 
10*  ("  And  they  drank  of  a  spiritual  rock  that  followed 
them,"  etc.).  Here  S.  Paul  is  obviously  alluding  to  the 
well  mentioned  in  Num.  21^^,  which  early  became  the 

1  Raymundus  cites  the  passage  (in  Hebrew  in  his  Pugio  Fidei) 
as  from  the"  halakic  midrash  Sifre.  But  as  it  stands,  it  cannot  be 
traced  in  the  printed  editions  of  Sifre.  Like  other  citations  in  the 
Pugio  it  probably  depends  upon  a  MS.  or  MSS.  no  longer  extant. 
Cf.  F.  Delitzsch,  in  his  Hebrew  translation  of  Romans  (Leipzig, 
1870),  p.  82  f. 

*  It  should  be  said  here  that  the  Messianic  apphcation  of  Isa. 
5212 — 5j  was  certainly  not  common  in  Jewish  circles  in  the  time 
of  Christ,  nor  probably  was  it  the  earliest.  The  passage  has  been 
interpreted  in  Jewish  circles  mainly  as  having  a  national  reference. 


94      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

subject  of  legendary  Haggadah.     In  the  Midrash  Rabbah 
on  Num.  i^  it  is  thus  described  : — 

They  had  the  well  through  the  merit  of  Miriam,  as  it  is 
written  :  "  And  Miriam  died,  and  was  buried  there."  And 
what  follows  immediately  after  ?  "  And  the  congregation 
had  no  water."  And  how  was  the  well  formed  ?  It  was  a 
crag  like  a  beehive,  and  it  used  to  roll  along  and  accompany 
them  on  their  journeyings.  And  when  the  standards  were 
pitched,  and  the  Tabernacle  rested,  the  crag  came  and  settled 
in  the  court  of  the  Tent  of  Meeting,  and  the  princes  came 
and  stood  beside  it,  and  said  "  Spring  up,  O  well,"  and  then 
it  would  spring  up.  i 

One  other  instructive  example  may  here  be  quoted. 
Ps.  1 10^  is  applied  in  the  Gospels  (Matt.  22*^  and  parallels) 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  Messiah  ; 
and  it  is  implied  there  that  this  interpretation  was  the 
one  generally  accepted  at  the  time  among  the  Jews. 
Later,  however,  this  view  was  displaced  in  Jewish  circles 
in  favour  of  others,  more  especially  of  one  which  referred 
it  to  Abraham  (so  Rashi).  But  the  effort  to  suppress 
the  old  exegesis  was  not  entirely  successful.  Thus  in 
the  midrash  on  the  Psalms,  to  Ps.  18^^,  the  old  inter- 
pretation reappears,  in  a  comment  on  the  words,  "  Thy 
right  hand  hath  upholden  me." 

R.  Judan  in  the  name  of  R.  Chama  says  :  that  in  the  time 
to  come  the  Holy  One — blessed  be  He  ! — will  make  King 
Messiah  sit  at  His  right  hand,  as  it  is  said  (Ps.  iiQi), 
The  Lord  said  unto  my  lord  sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  side,  etc. 

The  midrashic  literature  is  thus  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance for  elucidating  the  exegetical  tradition.  This  is  a 
matter  which  the  New  Testament  student  cannot  afford 
to  ignore.  For  it  is  a  fact  that  the  New  Testament 
writers  in  the  use  they  make  of  the  ancient  Scriptures, 
do  not  usually  depend  immediately  upon  the  Old  Testa- 
ment text.  Their  employment  of  Old  Testament  texts 
and  Old  Testament  language  is  often  conditioned  by  the 
influence  of  later  Jewish  exegesis.     One  notable  feature 

1  See  further  an  article  by  Prof.  Driver ' '  Notes  on  Three  Passages 
in  S.  Paul's  Epistles,"  in  Expositor,  Third  series,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  15  f. 
(1889). 


PARABLES   IN   MIDRASHIC   LITERATURE   95 

in  this  connexion  is  the  proof-text  of  Scripture  that  is 
regularly  cited  in  the  midrash  to  support  a  statement — 
in  exactly  the  same  way  the  compiler  of  the  First  Gospel 
quotes  from  the  Old  Testament  texts  in  support  of  the 
messianic  character  of  the  Christian  Messiah  (cf.  Matt. 
j23.  26, 15  18  23  g^c.).  In  its  vivid  use  of  metaphor,  simile, 
and  proverb  the  midrash,  though  its  form  is  that  of  pure 
prose,  is  invested  with  a  certain  poetic  quality.  These  points 
are  sufficiently  ihustrated  in  the  extracts  given  above. ^ 

It  is,  however,  the  parable — which  may  be  regarded  as 
the  regular  vehicle  of  didactic  poetry  in  post-Bibhcal 
Jewish  Literature — in  common  with  the  homily,  that  has 
assumed  its  most  artistic  form  and  been  most  richly 
developed  in  the  midrashim.  With  some  illustrations 
of  this  product  of  the  Haggadah  this  section  nmst 
conclude. 2 

The  following  extremely  clever  parable  is  attributed 
to  Rabbi  Judah  the  Prince  (called  simply  "Rabbi"), 
the  compiler  of  the  Mishnah  (c.  190  A.D.). 

Antoninus  (i.e.,  the  Roman  Emperor)  asked  Rabbi  how 
there  could  be  punishment  in  the  life  beyond  ?  For  since 
body  and  soul  after  their  separation  could  not  have 
committed  sin  they  could  blame  each  other  for  the  sins 
committed  on  earth.  Rabbi  answered  him  by  the 
following  parable  : 

A  certain  king  had  a  beautiful  garden  in  which  was  excel- 
lent fruit  :  and  over  it  he  appointed  two  watchmen  one 
Wind  and  the  other  lame.  The  lame  man  said  to  the  blind 
one,  I  see  exquisite  fruit  in  the  garden.  Carry  me  thither 
that  I  may  get  it:  and  we  will  eat  it  together.  The  blind 
man  consented  and  l?oth  ate  of  the  fruit.     After  some  days 

»  There  are  also  the  Beast  Fables  of  the  Talmud  and  Midrash 
(most  of  them  borrowed  directly  or  indirectly  from  India).  Cf. 
Abrahams'  Short  Hist.  J  L,  p.  34  f.  on  this  point. 

*  For  a  full  and  valuable  discussion  of  the  early  Rabbinical 
Parables,  cf.,  P.  Fiebig.  Altjiidische  Gleichnisse  und  die  Gleich- 
nisse  Jesu  (Leipzig,  1904).  Reference  may  also  be  made  to  Die 
KiJnigsgleichnisse  des  Midrasch,  by  Dr.  I.  Ziegler  (Breslau,  1903). 


96      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  lord  of  the  garden  came  and  asked  the  watchmen  concern- 
ing the  fruit.  Then  the  lame  man  said,  "  As  I  have  no  legs  I 
could  not  go  to  it,  so  it  is  not  my  fault  "  ;  and  the  blind 
man  said,  "  I  could  not  even  see  it,  so  it  is  not  my  fault." 

What  did  the  lord  of  the  garden  do  ? 

He  made  the  blind  man  carry  the  lame  and  thus  passed 
judgment  on  them  both.  So  God  will  replace  the  souls  in 
their  bodies  and  will  punish  both  together  for  their  sins. 
{Sank.  91.  a.b.). 

The  following  have  direct  parallels  in  the  New 
Testament  :  ^ 

Jochanan  b.  Zakkai  illustrates  the  necessity  of  daily 
conversion  and  constant  readiness  to  appear  before  God 
in  Heaven  by  the  following  parable  : 

A  king  invited  his  servants  to  a  banquet,  without  stating 
the  exact  time  at  which  it  would  be  given.  Those  who  were 
wise  remembered  that  all  things  are  ever  ready  in  the  palace 
of  a  king,  and  they  arrayed  themselves  and  sat  by  the  palace 
gate  awaiting  the  call  to  enter,  while  those  who  were  fooUsh 
continued  their  customary  occupations,  saying,  "A  banquet 
requires  great  preparation." 

When  the  king  called  his  servants  to  the  banquet,  those 
who  were  wise  appeared  in  clean  raiment  and  well  adorned, 
while  those  who  were  foolish  came  in  soiled  and  ordinary 
garments.  The  king  took  pleasure  in  seeing  those  who  were 
wise,  but  was  full  of  anger  at  those  who  were  foolish,  saying 
that  those  who  had  come  prepared  for  the  banquet  should 
sit  down  and  eat  and  drink,  but  that  those  who  had  not 
properly  arrayed  themselves  should  stand  and  look  on. 
(Compare  in  the  New  Testament,  Matt.  22'^»'^2  •  251-12  ; 
Luke  12.3°) 

Another  parable  (from  the  Palestinian  Talmud)  which 
forms  a  striking  parallel  to  a  New  Testament  one  is  the 
following  : 

When  R.  Chiyya's  son  R.  Abin  died  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-eight  R.  Zera  deHvered  the  funeral  oration  which 
he  couched  in  the  form  of  the  following  parable  : 

"  A  king  had  a  vineyard,  for  which  he  engaged  many 
labourers,  one  of  whom  was  especially  apt  and  skilful.  What 
did  the  king  do  ?  He  took  this  labourer  from  his  work, 
and  walked  through  the  garden  conversing  with  him.     When 

1  These  are  cited    here    as   they  appear  in  ]E  s.v.   Parable 
ix,  5i3f. 


THE   PRAYER-BOOK  97 

the  labourers  came  for  their  hire  in  the  evening  the  skilful 
labourer  appeared  among  them  and  received  a  full  day's 
wages  from  the  king.  The  other  labourers  were  very  angry 
at  this,  and  said,  '  We  have  toiled  the  whole  day,  while  this 
man  has  worked  but  two  hours.  Why  does  the  king  give 
him  the  full  hire  even  as  to  us  ? '  The  king  said  to  them, 
'  Why  are  you  angry  ?  Through  his  skill  he  has  done  more 
in  the  two  hours  than  you  have  done  all  daj^'  So  it  is  with 
R.  Abin  Chiyya.  In  the  twenty-eight  years  of  his  life  he 
has  learned  more  than  others  learn  in  lOo  years.  Hence  he 
has  fulfilled  his  life-work,  and  is  entitled  to  be  called  to 
Paradise  earlier  than  others  from  his  work  on  earth  :  nor 
will   he   miss   aught  of  his  reward."     (Jer.  Ber.  II,  5c.). 

The  point  of  the  parable  in  Matt.  20  ^"^°  is,  of  course, 
quite  different.  It  illustrates,  among  other  things,  the 
doctrine  that  non-Jewish  Christians  are  to  be  treated  as 
equal  with  Jews  in  privilege  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

IV.    The  Prayer-Book. 

[Literature. — Lewis  N.  Dembitz,  Jewish  Services  in  Synagogue 
and  Home  (Philadelphia,  1898).  The  art.  "Prayer 
Books"  in  JE  Vol.  x,  pp.  17 iff  (with  the  authorities 
cited).  Cf.  also  Schechter's  Studies  in  Judaism,  ch. 
X  ("The  Hebrew  Collection  of  the  British  Museum"); 
the  catalogues  of  Hebrew  MSS.  of  the  British  Museum 
(by  Rev.  G.  Margoliouth)  and  the  Bodleian  (by  Dr.  A. 
Neubauer)  Libraries  (s.v.  Liturgies) ;  and  two  articles 
by  G.  H.  Box  on  "  The  Jewish  Prayer  Book  "  in  the 
Expository  Times,  Vol.  xv  (April  and  May,  1904).  See 
further  ch.  xvii  of  the  present  work.J 

(i)  Introductory. 
The  liturgical  literature  of  the  Jews  may  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  "  sources  "  of  Judaism.  Although  the 
Jewish  Liturgy  is  itself  largely  the  product  and  deposit 
of  tradition,  it  yet  in  its  embodied  form,  and  as  a  factor 
in  public  worship,  exercised,  and  continues  to  exercise, 
a  profound  influence  in  the  development  and  maintenance 
of  typical  Jewish  character  and  piety.  The  main  out- 
lines of  the  Jewish  Liturgy  are  fixed,  and  go  back  to  a 
considerable  antiquity.  For  some  discussion  of  this 
point,   and  of   the   character  and  Hturgical  use  of  the 

8— (2417) 


98      SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

synagogue-prayers  generally,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
another  chapter  of  the  present  work.^  Here  we  confine 
ourselves  to  the  task  of  indicating  briefly  some  of  the 
more  important  collections  of  the  prayers  (MSS.  and 
printed  editions)  with  reference  more  particularly  to  the 
different  uses  or  "  minhagim."  '^ 

Within  the  ranks  of  the  orthodox  Jews  there  is  an 
important  division,  which  depends  not  upon  recently 
developed  differences  of  opinion  and  taste,  but  upon 
the  effects  produced  by  living  in  communities  widely 
separated  and  influenced  by  widely  different  historical 
conditions  during  many  centuries  of  the  past.  According 
to  this  division,  the  Jews  fall  into  two  main  classes,  namely, 
those  of  the  Sefardim  and  the  Ashkenazim.  Now,  by 
the  mediaeval  Jews,  the  land  Sepharad  mentioned  in 
Obadiah,  vs.  20,  was  identified  with  Spain,  while  Ash- 
kenaz,  one  of  the  descendants  of  Japheth  (Gen.  lo^), 
was  identified  with  Germany,  probably  because  of  the 
similarity  in  sound  of  the  name  Gomer  (the  father  of 
Ashkenaz)  with  that  of  the  Teutonic  Fatherland.^ 
Hence  Ashkenaz  is  the  mediaeval  Jewish  name  for  Ger- 
many, and  Sepharad  of  Spain  ;  and  the  Jews  of  German- 
and  Slavonic-speaking  countries  are  called  Ashkenazim, 
while  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jews  are  named 
Sefardim.  The  Ashkenazim  or  German-speaking  Jews 
have  for  centuries  used  among  themselves  a  German 
jargon,  the  commonest  form  of  Yiddish,  which  is  derived 
from  the  dialect  of  the  Rhine  ;  and  this  form  of  speech 
prevails  even  among  those  who  live  in  Slavonic-speaking 
countries.  The  reason  is  that  the  Jews  of  Austria- 
Hungary,  and  Poland  (as  well  as  of  Germany  proper)  are 
the  descendants  of  those  who  were  originally  settled  in 
the  Rhine  valley,  having  overflowed  into  these  countries 

1  Cf.  ch.  xvii. 

2  The  following  paragraph  is  reproduced  from  the  art.  (by  G.  H. 
Box)  in  the  Exposiiovy  Times  (xv,  314  f.)  referred  to  above. 

»  See  JE  i,   193  {s.v.   "  Ashkenaz  "). 


ASHKENAZTM   AND   SEFARDIM  99 

from  the  original  settlement,  and  having  carried  their 
German  speech  with  them.  The  original  colony  is  said 
to  have  consisted  of  Galileans  who  were  deported  to  the 
lower  Rhine  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Hadrian.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Jews  of  Spain  and  Portugal  have 
overflowed  into  Provence,  Italy,  North  Africa,  and 
Turkey.  Their  diffusion  was  especially  stimulated  by  the 
expulsion  from  Spain  in  1492,  which  was  also  responsible 
for  the  founding  of  a  Sefardic  settlement  in  Holland, 
and  from  thence  later  in  London.  Now  the  Ashkenazim 
and  Sefardim  differ  on  the  following  points  :  (i)  in 
their  pronunciation  of  Hebrew  ;  the  former  reproducing, 
to  a  large  extent,  the  provincial  peculiarities  of  Galilee, 
the  latter  approximating  more  nearly  to  the  classical 
diction  of  Judaea  ;  (2)  in  the  intonation  of  the  prayers 
and  Bible  lessons  :  "  the  Sefardim  have  pretty  much 
maintained  the  old  oriental  chants,  which  move  in  a 
very  narrow  compass,  while  the  Germans  and  Poles  have 
allowed  a  strong  European  element  to  enter  their  religious 
music"  ;i  and  (3)  there  are  differences,  on  the  whole, 
by  no  means  inconsiderable,  between  the  service-books 
of  the  two  divisions.  The  importance  of  these,  however, 
must  not  be  exaggerated.  In  the  oldest  elements  of  the 
Liturgy  they  are  in  essential  agreement — the  Sefardic 
versions  being  distinguished  by  a  marked  tendency  to 
diffuseness  and  oriental  exuberance  of  expression  (e.g., 
the  heaping  up  of  synonyms).  It  is  in  later  additions 
to  the  Liturgy  that  the  two  branches  most  markedly 
differ.  The  German  Prayer-Book  seems  ultimately  to 
have  been  derived  from  Tiberias,  in  Galilee  ;  that  of  the 
Sefardim  from  the  Babylonian  Schools  (in  the  ninth 
century  a.d.).  The  technical  term  for  these  varieties  of 
liturgical  form  and  usage  is  minhag  (—custom).  Thus 
"  the  German  minhag  "  and  "  the  Portuguese  minhag  " 
are  spoken  of.     The  former  is  divided  into  two  varieties, 


Dembitz,  Jewish  Services  in  Synagogue  and  Home,  p.  15. 


100    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

namely,  the  Ashkenazic  minhag  proper  (that  of  Western 
Germany)  and  the  Pohsh  minhag  (that  of  Eastern  Ger- 
many and  of  the  countries  farther  east  and  south-east).^ 
Modern  movements  of  population  have  in  many  cases 
brought  Jews  of  these  originally  separate  communities 
into  close  proximity.  But  in  these  cases  the  old 
distinctions  are  still  maintained,  and  so  we  find  German 
synagogues  in  Jerusalem,  and  Portuguese  synagogues  in 
London,  Paris,  Hamburg,  and  Vienna,  side  by  side  with 
the  synagogues  that  follow  the  minhag  of  the  original 
settlements  of  the  places  in  question.  It  ought  here  to 
be  mentioned  that  the  Jews  of  the  East  (Egypt,  Palestine, 
and  Arabia)  had  originally  a  minhag  different  from 
those  of  the  Ashkenazim  and  Sefardim ;  but  after 
Maimonides'  stay  in  Egypt,  and  also  owing  to  the 
influx  of  refugees  from  Spain  after  the  expulsion,  the 
Sefardic  Liturgy  displaced  the  earlier  ritual  in  these 
countries. 

Among  the  Jews  of  one  district  of  Arabia,  however — 
namely,  Yemen — many  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the 
earlier  and  original  usage  still  survive,  which  are  of  great 
historical  interest  and  value.  Of  even  greater  import- 
ance from  the  historical  point  of  view  are  the  Liturgy  of 
the  Karaites — a  Jewish  sect  in  the  Crimea,  who  repudiate 
rabbinical  traditions — and  that  of  the  little  community 
of  Samaritans  which  still  survives  at  Nablus,  the 
ancient  Shechem,  in  Palestine.  There  is  also  a  mystical 
Jewish  sect,  numbering  some  five  hundred  thousand, 
scattered  about  districts  of  Poland,  Russia,  Northern 
Hungary,  and  Roumania,  known  as  the  Chasidim,  or 
"  Pious,"  who  have  a  Prayer-Book  of  their  own.  This, 
however,  is  mainly  based  on  the  Sefardic  minhag.  This 
sect,  while  not  denying  the  binding  force  of  rabbinical 

2  The  term  "  minhag  "  is  also  used  in  a  wider  sense  to  denote 
any  variety  of  local  usage  or  custom  in  civil  Ufe.  The  Mishnic 
rule  is  :  Everything  according  to  the  custom  {minhag)  of  the  country 
(nnon  jniroa  Ssn,  Baba  Metzia,  ix,  i). 


SIDDURIM  101 

ordinances,  attaches  a  higher  value  to  the  esoteric  teach- 
ings of  the  Kabbalah  (mystical  speculation)  than  to  the 
Talmud. 

The  collected  form  of  the  prayers  for  weekdays,  Sab- 
baths, holy  days,  festivals,  and  fasts  is  usually  termed 
"  Seder  Tefilloth  "  ("  Order  of  Prayers  ")  or  simply 
"  Siddur  "  ("  Order  ").  Owing  to  their  bulk  it  became 
necessary,  in  course  of  time,  to  separate  the  full  "  order  " 
forjFestivals  from  that  of  ordinary  weekdays  and  Sabbaths. 
Such  collected  form  of  the  Festival  Prayers  is  termed 
"  Machzor  "  ("  Cycle  ")  as  distinguished  from  the  smaller 
collection  of  daily,  Sabbath,  and  occasional  prayers. 

(ii)    Earliest  Compilations. 

1.  The  earliest  known  compilation  of  prayers  forming 
a  Jewish  Book  of  Common  Prayer  is  that  of  AmramGaon,^ 
referred  to  as  the  "  Seder  (or  Siddur)  Rab  Amram  " 
(Amram  was  principal  of  the  Rabbinical  Academy  of 
Matah  Mechasya  846-864).  This  "Seder"  formed  the 
basis  of  all  subsequent  Jewish  Prayer-Books  (both 
Sefardic  and  Ashkenazic). 

A  printed  edition  of  Amram's  work  was  published 
for  the  first  time  by  N.  N.  Coronel  at  Warsaw,  in 
the  year  1865  from  a  MS.  in  two  parts  (but  much 
interpolated.) 

2.  Saadya  Gaon,  principal  of  the  academy  of  Sura 
(928-942)  also  compiled  a  prayer-book,  a  manuscript  of 
which  was  found  at  his  birthplace,  Al-Fayyum  in  Egypt. 

3.  Moses  Maimonides  (i  135-1204)  at  the  end  of  the 
second  book  of  his  famous  Yad  ha-chazakah  ("  The  mighty 
hand  ")  gives  the  order  of  prayers  for  the  whole  year  in 


1  "  Gaon  "  (  =  "  Excellency  ")  is  an  official  title  applied  to  the 
heads  of  the  Babylonian  School  at  Sura  (or  Mechasya),  in  the 
eighth  century.  The  "  Gaon  "  was  a  sort  of  Grand  Rabbi  who  was 
consulted  by  Jews  from  all  over  the  world  by  letter.  Volumes 
of  their  official  "  replies  "  ("  Responsa  ")  are  still  extant.  The 
last  Gaon  was  R.  Hai  who  died  in   1040. 


102    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  section  entitled  "  Seder  Tefilloth  Kol  ha-Shanah  " 
("  Order  of  Prayers  for  the  whole  year  ").  It  coincides, 
of  course,  with  the  Sefardic  minhag. 

The  text  with  a  German  translation  was  published 
by  Leon  J.  Mandelstamm  at  S.  Petersburg  in  1851. 

4.  Owing  to  his  great  reputation  and  influence  Maimo- 
nides,  when  he  left  Spain  for  Egypt,  was  able  to  impose 
the  Spanish  (Sefardic)  ritual  on  the  Synagogues  of  the 
East.  A  word  should  be  added  here  regarding  another 
Spanish  Jew  Abudraham  of  Sevilla.  He  wrote  (circa 
1340)  a  description  of  and  commentary  on  the  Synagogue 
services  of  the  time  as  they  were  carried  on  in  Spain, 
which  is  of  great  value. 

5.  The  Machzor  Vitry.  A  famous  collection  of  prayers, 
covering  the  complete  cycle  of  the  year  ("  machzor  "  = 
"  cycle  ")  was  put  forth  in  the  year  1208  by  Rabbi 
Simcha  of  Vitry  in  France.  This  is  the  most  important 
of  all  the  early  compilations  ;  it  is  "  ten  times  as  volumi- 
nous as  the  'Seder  Rab  Amram,"  and  forms  the  basis 
of  the  Ashkenazic  minhag. 

It  was  first  edited  (from  several  MSS.)  by  Simeon 
Hurwitz,  and  published  for  the  "  Mekitze  Nirdamim  " 
Society  (BerUn,   1893). 

(iii)    Important  Printed  Editions  (Orthodox). 

The  first  printed  Jewish  Prayer-Book  was  issued  in 
i486  (Soncino)  ;  the  earliest  to  contain  the  Sefardic  rite 
was  published  at  Venice  in  1524. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  detailed  Hst  of  the  printed 
editions  of  the  Hebrew  Daily  Prayer-Books,  and  the 
collections  of  Festival  Prayers  (the  Machzorim).  The 
following  are  the  most  important  for  critical  and  practical 
purposes. 

The  edition  of  the  Machzor  (Ashkenazic  rite)  edited 
by  Benjamin  Wolf  Heidenheim  (Rodelheim.  1800).  In 
this  edition  the  text  of  the  prayers,  which  had  become 
very  corrupt,   was  purified  and  vastly  improved.     The 


PRINTED  EDITIONS  OF  THE  PRAYER-BOOK  103 

greatest  advance,  however,  was  made  by  the  pubhcation 
(at  Rodelheim  in  1868)  of  Sehgman  Baer's  Ahodath  Israel. 
Here  the  text  is  corrected,  and  the  sources  of  the  prayers 
traced  in  a  valuable  commentary  (in  Hebrew).  The 
following  editions  of  the  Hebrew  text  accompanied  by 
English  translations  are  practically  important  :  "  The 
Authorized  Daily  Prayer-Book  of  the  United  Hebrew- 
Congregations  of  the  British  Empire  :  with  a  new  trans- 
lation by  the  Rev.  S.  Singer  "  (i  vol.  now  issued  by  Eyre 
and  Spottiswoode  :  often  reprinted)  ;  "  Service  of  the 
Synagogue  :  a  new  edition  of  the  Festival  Prayers  with 
an  English  translation  in  prose  and  verse  "  (London, 
Routledge  :  in  course  of  publication).^  The  Sefardic  rite 
has  been  issued  in  "  Forms  of  Prayer  ;  edited,  with  an 
Enghsh  translation,"  by  D.  A.  De  Sola  (5  vols.,  i860)  : 
revised  edition  by  Dr.  Moses  Gaster  (1900). 

(iv)    Printed  Editions  of  Other  Rites. 

1.  The  Siddurof  the  Jews  of  Southern  Arabia  (Yemen). 
This  was  pubhshed  in  Jerusalem  in  2  vols,  in  1894  and 
1898,  and  in  Vienna  in  1896.  This  rite  agrees  partly 
with  the  Sefardic,  partly  with  the  Ashkenazic  minhag. 
The  language  of  the  prayers  is  partly  Hebrew,  partly 
Aramaic  and  Arabic.  The  collection  is  of  great  value  for 
liturgical  study  (see  Bacher  in  JQR,  xiv.  pp.  581-621). 
From  the  same  quarter  is  also  derived  The  Haggadah 
according  to  the  rite  of  Yemen,  edited  by  W.  H.  Greenberg 
(1896),  where  (in  the  introduction)  much  interesting 
information  is  given  on  the  liturgical  literature  of  the 
Yemenite  Jews. 

2.  One  of  the  most  interesting  additions  to  Jewish 
Liturgic a  in  recent  times  is  the  Seder  Tefilloth  ha-Falashim, 
the  prayer-book  of  the  Falasha  Jews  of  Abyssinia 
(Ethiopic    text    with    Hebrew    translation    by    Joseph 


»  This  is  a  most  beautiful  and  valuable  edition.  At  present 
(1907)  3  vols,  have  been  issued  containing  the  prayers  for  the 
Day  of  Atonement  and  New  Year. 


104    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Halevy,  Paris,  1877).  The  prayers  here  embodied  were 
compiled  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  include  a  prayer 
by  the  angels,  and  a  prayer  at  sacrifices. 

3.  Another  Liturgy,  containing  some  very  ancient 
elements  is  that  of  the  Samaritans  (an  edition  containing 
the  Samaritan  text  transliterated  into  Hebrew  was 
published  by  M.  Heidenheim,  Leipsic,  1885  ;  a  critical, 
text  is  being  prepared  for  the  Clarendon  (Oxford)  Press 
by  A.  E.  Cowley).  In  this  connexion  also  should  be 
mentioned  "  La  Liturgie  Samaritane,  Office  du  Soir  des 
Fetes,"  by  S.  Rappoport  (Paris,  1900). 

4.  Various  editions  of  the  Karaite  Liturgy  have  been 
published  ;  one  in  3  vols.  Chufut-Kale,  1806  ;  one  in  4 
vols.  Eupatoria,  1836  ;  one  in  4  vols.  Vienna,  1854.  The 
latest  edition  of  their  Siddur  is  much  abridged  (i  vol.). 
It  was  edited  for  the  congregation  of  Karaite  Israelites 
in  Egypt  and  pubHshed  at  Budapest  in  1903. 

5.  The  Reform  Ritual.  As  a  writer  in  the  Jewish 
EncyclopcBdia  remarks,'  "  Liturgy  was  and  is  still  the 
field  on  which  the  different  parties  within  Judaism — 
Orthodox,  Progressive,  and  Reform — fight  their  battles 
with  more  or  less  bitterness." 

The  first  Reform  Prayer-Book  was  the  Gebetbuch  issued 
in  Hebrew  and  German  at  Hamburg  in  1818,  for  the  use 
of  the  "  New  Temple  "  congregation.  It  was  edited  by 
S.  I.  Frankel  and  I.  M.  Bresselau,  and  its  pubhcation  at 
once  provoked  a  storm,  and  was  denounced  by  the  official 
heads  of  the  Jewish  Community.  The  principal  changes 
introduced  were  the  abridgment  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and 
the  elimination  of  all  references  to  a  personal  Messiah, 
and  belief  in  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  State  and  the 
Temple  Sacrifices. 

A  less  radical  "  Gebetbuch  "  (Prayer-Book)  on  Reform 
lines  was  issued  by  Geiger  at  a  later  date  (Breslau,  1854). 
In  England  a  Reform-Prayer  Book  was  published  in  1841 


*■  Vol.  viii,  p.   140  (s.v.  Liturgies). 


LATER  SOURCES   OF  JUDAISM  105 

for  the  West  London  Synagogue  of  British  Jews,  by  D.  W. 
Marks.  This  also  was  interdicted  by  the  official  heads 
of  the  Jewish  Community  in  London.  In  America  the 
Reform  Movement  has  made  considerable  progress  ; 
numerous  prayer-books  on  reform  lines  have  there  been 
issued  since  1850 — the  standard  one  now  being  "  The 
Union  Prayer-Book  for  Jewish  Worship,"  edited  and 
published  by  the  Central  Conference  of  American  Rabbis  : 
2  vols.  Cincinnati,  1895.  "  In  1905,  ten  years  after  its 
pubhcation,  '  The  Union  Prayer-Book  '  had  been  adopted 
by  183  Reform  congregations,  and  62,224  copies  had 
been  issued"  (/£",  x,  180). 


Appendix  :  Later  Sources. 

It  nuist  not  be  supposed  that  with  the  close  of  the 
Rabbinical  period  the  sources  from  which  the  religion  of 
the  Synagogue  drew  its  inspiration  ceased.  A  modern 
Jewish  writer  expresses  what  is  regarded  as  axiomatic 
among  Jews  when  he  says  that  "  to  assign  limits  to  the 
development  of  Judaism,  and  to  assert  that  the  communi- 
cation of  divine  truth  to  Israel  ceased  with  Moses  or  with 
Malachi  or  with  the  close  of  the  Talmud,  is  to  ignore  the 
readings  not  only  of  reason,  but  of  history."  ^  Indeed, 
the  Rabbis  themselves  recognized  this  when  they  declared 
that  "  to  Moses  every  ordinance  was  revealed  that  was 
to  be  instituted  in  after  times,  however  remote,  and  that 
the  doctrine  of  any  teacher,  however  obscure  he  might  be, 
was  to  be  venerated  in  the  same  degree  as  it  had  been 
taught  by  the  prophets,  or  even  by  Moses  himself."  ^ 
The  popular  adage,  "  From  Moses  to  Moses  (i.e.,  Mai- 
monides)  there  hath  been  none  like  unto  Moses."  points 

1  Morris   Joseph;  Judaism  as  Creed  and   Life,  p.  30  (London. 

1903)- 

2  Jer.  Megillah,  i,  7,  Talm.  Bab.  Megillah  19^  Sifre  to  Deut. 
ii>3,  quoted  by  Morris  Joseph,  ibid.  pp.   34,  35. 


106    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

in  the  same  direction.  From  the  tenth  century  onwards 
writers  of  great  note  have  issued  works  which  have  ever 
since  been  regarded  as  authoritative  sources  of  Judaism. 
Our  brief  review  of  the  sources  of  Judaism  would  be 
incomplete  without  some  reference  to  these  writers  and 
their  works. 

The  earliest  name  that  claims  attention  in  this  connexion 
is  that  of  Saadyah  ben  Joseph  (892-942)  spoken  of  as 
"  the  founder  of  scientific  activity  in  Judaism  "  ;  his 
most  important  work  entitled  Emunoth  we-Deoth  {"  Truths 
and  Dogmas"),  was  written  originally  in  Arabic.^  It  is 
looked  upon  as  a  work  of  high  authority.  The  next  name 
of  importance  to  be  met  with  is  that  of  Bachya  ben  Joseph, 
who  Hved  in  the  former  half  of  the  eleventh  century, 
and  was  the  author  of  the  first  Jewish  system  of  ethics. 
His  work  Choboth  Halehahoth  *  ("  Duties  of  the  hearts," 
written  in  Arabic,  but  early  translated  into  Hebrew)  is 
very  valuable,  as  in  it  the  writer  insists  on  the  need  of 
fulfilling  the  spirit  of  the  Law  rather  than  its  letter. 
"  Bachya  felt  impelled  to  make  an  attempt  to  present  the 
Jewish  faith  as  being  essentially  a  great  spiritual  truth 
founded  on  Reason,  Revelation  (the  written  Law),  and 
Tradition,  all  stress  being  at  the  same  time  laid  on  the 
willingness  and  the  joyful  readiness  of  the  God-loving 
heart  to  perform  life's  duties."  ^  It  was  a  beautiful 
ideal,  put  forth,  as  it  seems,  on  account  of  the  sad  non- 
realization  of  it  on  the  part  of  his  contemporaries.  But 
the  name  of  greatest  weight  in  post-Rabbinical  times  is 
that  of  Moses  Maimonides.  He  is  popularly  known 
as  "  RaMBaM,"  abbreviated  from  Rabbi  Moses  Ben 
Maimon  (1135-1204).  He  was  a  most  voluminous  writer, 
but  was  regarded  with  disfavour  in  his  day,  for  his  teach- 
ing ran  counter  to  Rabbinic  orthodoxy.     In  his  most 

^  No  English  translation  has  been  pubUshed  of  this  work,  but 
there  is  a  German  one  by  Fiirst  (Leipzig,   1845). 

*  No  EngUsh  translation  has,  we  believe,  been  published. 
»  JE,  ii,  447. 


MAIMONIDES  107 

celebrated  work,  Mot  eh  Nebuchim  {"  Guide  of  the  Per- 
plexed "),'  he  sought  to  spiritualize  what  he  regarded  as 
the  secrets  of  Scripture  after  the  allegorical  manner  of  the 
Alexandrines  ;  his  attempt  to  show  that  Judaism  was 
"  the  very  expression  of  human  intelligence,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  in  Scripture  or  Rabbinical  literature,  if 
properly  explained,  that  contradicts  true  philosophy," 
involved  him  in  difficulties  with  the  orthodox  ;  it  was  not, 
of  course,  the  thesis  itself  that  was  objected  to,  but  that 
which  its  working  out  and  elucidation  involved.  But  in 
spite  of  this  his  influence  on  Judaism  has  been  more  pro- 
found than  that  of  any  other  teacher  in  post-biblical 
times.  This  is  most  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  the  only  approach  to  a  Creed  which  the  Jewish  Church 
possesses  emanates  from  Maimonides.  In  his  Commentary 
on  the  Mishnah  he  emunciates  thirteen  "  Principles  of 
faith,"  and  these  Principles  {Ikkarim)  have  been  accepted 
by  orthodox  Judaism  as  its  quasi-official  expression  of 
belief.  They  have  been  embodied  in  the  Jewish  Prayer- 
Book  in  two  different  forms,  one  in  prose  and  the  other  in 
poetry.  Concerning  these  thirteen  Principles  Maimonides 
himself  says  :  "  Read  them  again  and  again,  and  study 
them  well,  and  let  not  your  heart  entice  you  to  believe  that 
you  have  comprehended  their  full  meaning  after  having 
read  them  a  few  times  ;  you  would  then  be  in  a  great  error, 
for  I  have  not  written  down  what  occurred  to  my  mind 
at  first  thought.  I  first  thoroughly  studied  and  examined 
what  I  was  going  to  write,  compared  the  various  doctrines, 
the  correct  ones  and  the  incorrect  ones,  and  when  I  arrived 
at  what  we  ought  to  accept  as  our  Creed,  I  was  able  to 


»  Originally  written  in  Arabic,  but  translated  into  Hebrew  in 
the  year  1 200,  by  Samuel  Tibbon.  An  English  version,  translated 
from  the  Arabic,  has  been  published  by  Friedlander  (London, 
new  ed.  1904);  a  French  one  by  Solomon  Munk  (Paris.  1856- 
1866),  and  a  German  one,  of  which  the  three  parts  were  issued 
respectively  by  Fiirstenthal  (Kxotoschin,  1839),  Stern  (Vienna, 
1864)  and  Scheyer  (Frankfurt.   1838). 


108    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

prove  it  by  arguments  and  reasonings."  ^  As  these 
"  Thirteen  Principles  "  form  the  unofficially  recognized 
Creed  of  Judaism,  they  will  not  inappropriately  find  a 
place  here  : —  ^ 

1.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator,  blessed 

be  His  name,  is  the  Author  and  Guide  of  every- 
thing that  has  been  created,  and  that  He  alone 
has  made,  does  make,  and  will  make  all  things. 

2.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator,  blessed 

be  His  name,  is  a  Unity,  and  that  there  is  no  unity 
in  any  manner  like  unto  His,  and  that  He  alone  is 
our  God,  who  was,  is,  and  will  be. 

3.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator,  blessed 

be  His  name,  is  not  a  body,  and  that  He  is  free 
from  all  the  accidents  of  matter,  and  that  He  has 
not  any  form  whatsoever. 

4.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator,  blessed 

be  His  name,  is  the  first  and  the  last. 

5.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  to  the   Creator, 

blessed  be  His  name,  and  to  Him  alone,  it  is  right 
to  pray,  and  that  it  is  not  right  to  pray  to  any 
being  besides  Him. 

6.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  that  all  the  words  of 

the  prophets  are  true. 

7.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  the  prophecy  of 

Moses  our  teacher,  peace  be  unto  him,  was  true, 
and  that  he  was  the  chief  of  the  prophets,  both 
of  those  that  preceded  and  of  those  that  followed 
him. 

8.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  the  whole  Law,  now 

in  our  possession,  is  the  same  that  was  given  to 
Moses  our  teacher,  peace  be  unto  him. 

9.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Law  will  not 


1  Quoted  by  M.   Friedlander  in   The  Jewish  Religion,   p.   20 
(second  ed.,  London,   1900). 

2  See  Singer,  pp.  8g,  90. 


THE  THIRTEEN   PRINCIPLES   OF  FAITH     109 

be  changed,  and  that  there  will  never  be  any  other 
law  from  the  Creator,  blessed  be  His  name. 

10.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator, 
blessed  be  His  name,  knows  every  deed  of  the 
children  of  men,  and  all  their  thoughts,  as  it  is 
said,  It  is  He  that  fashioneth  the  hearts  of  them 
all,  that  giveth  heed  to  all  their  deeds. 

11.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  the  Creator, 
blessed  be  His  name,  rewards  those  that  keep 
His  Commandments,  and  punishes  those  that 
transgress  them. 

12.  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  in  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  and,  though  He  tarry,  I  will  wait  daily 
for  His  coming. 

13.  I  beheve  with  perfect  faith  that  there  will  be  a 
resurrection  of  the  dead  at  the  time  when  it  shall 
please  the  Creator,  blessed  be  His  name,  and 
exalted  be  the  remembrance  of  Him  for  ever  and 
ever. 

The  next  authoritative  writer  that  claims  attention  is 
Jehudah  Hallcvi  (1085-1140  or  later)  ;  his  work  Kuzart  ^ 
is  that  which  is  of  chief  importance  in  the  present  con- 
nexion ;  the  main  principle  of  this  is  to  show  that  revealed 
religion  is  superior  to  natural  religion  ;  for  "  the  aim  of 
ethical  training,  which  is  the  object  of  religion,  is  not  to 
create  in  man  good  intentions,  but  to  cause  him  to  perform 
good  deeds.  This  aim  cannot  be  attained  by  philosophy, 
which  is  undecided  as  to  the  nature  of  good,  but  can  be 
secured  by  religious  training,  which  teaches  what  is  good. 
As  science  is  the  sum  of  all  the  particles  of  truth  found 
by  successive  generations,  so  religious  training  is  based 
upon  a  set  of  traditions  ;  in  other  words,  history  is  an 
important  factor  in  the  development  of  human  culture 


»  A  German  translation  was  issued  by  David  Cassel  in  1869 
(Leipzig)  ;  an  English  translation  by  Dr.  Hart^vig  Hirschfield 
(London,  1905). 


110    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  science."  ^  The  work,  which  is  in  the  form  of  an 
"  Apologia  "  of  Judaism,  is  called  "  Kuzari  "  because  it 
was  first  written  for  the  benefit  of  the  ruler  of  the  Chazar 
kingdom  ;  it  defends  and  justifies  Judaism  as  against 
Philosophy,  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism. 

One  other  name  deserves  mention,  Nachmanides  (1194- 
1270)  ;  the  main  interest  of  his  activity  Hes  in  the  fact 
that  it  was  directed  against  the  tendency  among  earlier 
authorities,  hke  Maimonides,  to  allegorize  the  bibhcal 
narratives  and  to  refuse  credit  to  the  miraculous  element 
even  in  the  Talmud.  "  Against  this  tendency  Nach- 
manides strove,  and,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  went  to  the 
other  extreme,  not  even  allowing  the  utterances  of  the 
immediate  disciples  of  the  Geonim  to  be  questioned.  With 
these  ultra-conservative  ideas  it  was  natural  that  in  the 
struggle  between  Maimonists  and  anti-Maimonists 
Nachmanides'  sympathies  should  go  with  the  latter."  ' 
Respect  for  authority  and  tradition  were  the  guiding 
principles  of  the  teaching  of  Nachmanides.  See 
further,  Schechter's  Studies,  pp.  120  ff. 

»  JE,  vii,  351.  See,  too,  a  fine  appreciation  of  the  person  and 
work  of  Jehudah  Hallevi,  by  Joseph  Jacobs  in  his  Jewish  Ideals, 
pp.   103-134  (London,  1896). 

2  JE,  ix,  87. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Divisions  within  the 
Jewish  Body. 

T}iB  Dispersion — The   Pharisees — The   Scribes — The   Sadducees — The 
Essenes — The  Karaites — The  Chassidim — The  "  Reform  "  Jews. 

[Literature  : — Wellhausen  Pharisder  und  Sadducder  (1874)  ; 
Lightfoot  Colossians  and  Philemon,  pp.  349-419  (1884)  ; 
Schiirer  op.  cit.  II.  ii.  pp.  1-43.  188-327  ;  Weber  op. 
cit.  pp.  125-147  ;  Bertholet  Die  Stellung  der  Israeliten 
zu  den  Fremden  (1896)  ;  Holtzmann  Die  jiidische 
Schriftgelehrsamkeit  zur  Zeit  Jesu  {igoi)  ;  G.  Holscher 
Der  Sadduzaismua  (1906);  Holtzmann  Neutestamentliche 
Zeitgeschichte,  pp.  200-221,  233-273.  Bousset  Die 
Religion  dcs  Judenthums  im  N entestamentlichen  Zeitalter, 
pp.  161-184,  405-443  (1903);  Harnack  Expansion  of 
Christianity  (Engl.  Trans.)  I,  i-ioi  (1904)  ;  Friedlander 
Die  religioscn  Bewegungen  innerhalb  des  Judenthums 
im  Zeitalter  Jesu,  pp.  235-264  (1905)  ;  the  articles 
on  the  various  subjects  treated,  in  PRE,  RE,  Hastings' 
DB,  JE.] 

I.  The  Dispersion. 

In  the  book  of  Esther  we  read  as  follows  :  And  Haman 
said  unto  King  Ahasuerus,  there  is  a  certain  people  scat- 
tered abroad  and  dispersed  among  the  peoples  in  all  the 
provinces  of  thy  kingdom  ;  and  their  laws  are  diverse 
from  those  of  every  people  ;  neither'^keep  they  the  king's 
laws  :  therefore  it  is  not  for  the  king' sf  pro  fit  to  suffer  them, 
38  ;  in  8®  there  is  mention  made  of  the  Jews  in  the 
provinces  which  are  from  India  unto  Ethiopia,  an  hundred 
twenty  and  seven  provinces  (cf.  9^,  10^). 

These  "dispersed"  Jews  formed  the  greater; part  of 
the  nation,  which  was  represented  in  Palestine  by  the 
much  smaller  portion  of  those  who,  under  Cyrus,  had 
returned  from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  When  the 
Persian  Empire  was  conquered  by  Alexander  the  Great, 
the  chief  way  in  which  the  dispersed  Jews  were  affected 
111 


112    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

was  that,  on  account  of  the  greater  freedom  accorded  to 
them,  they  migrated  in  large  numbers  to  the  West,  and 
settled  down  in  the  centres  of  Greek  civilization.  Their 
relations  towards  their  brethren  in  Palestine  had  pro- 
bably never  ceased  being  kept  up  ;  but  their  migrations 
westwards  had  the  effect  of  increasing  their  inter- 
communication, which  consisted  mainly  in  the  making 
of  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem,  the  paying  of  the  Temple 
tribute,  and  their  voluntary  subjection  to  the  decrees  of 
the  Great  Sanhedrin.^  The  dispersed  Jews  experienced 
a  sense  of  national  unity  by  thus  regarding  Jerusalem  as 
the  nation's  centre.  And  it  was  the  centre  of  a  vast 
circumference,  for  there  was  scarcely  a  province  of  the 
civihzed  world  of  those  days  in  which  the  Judaism  of  the 
Dispersion  was  not  represented  ;  in  Syria  and  to  the 
East,  in  Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  Greece,  Macedonia  and 
Italy,  etc.,  (cf.  Acts  2^'^^  for  somewhat  later  times). 
Josephus  [Antiq.  XIV,  vii,  2)  quotes  Straboin  the  words  : 
"  Now  these  Jews  are  already  gotten  into  all  cities,  and 
it  is  hard  to  find  a  place  in  the  habitable  earth  that  hath 
not  admitted  this  tribe  of  men,  and  is  not  possessed  by 
it ;  "  and  in  eariier  times  witness  is  borne  to  the  same 
thing,  "  every  land  and  every  sea  is  full  of  thee  "  {Sibylline 
Oracles  iii.  271).  But  from  almost  every  point  of  view 
the  most  important  centre  of  the  Jewish  Dispersion 
was  Alexandria.  The  nucleus  for  a  Jewish  population 
had  existed  in  Egypt  for  centuries  before  the  Christian 
Era  ;  and  when  Alexandria  was  founded,  Jewish  settlers 
were  attracted  to  it  by  the  fact  that  they  were  offered 
equal  privileges  with  all  other  citizens  ^ ;  for  according 
to  an  edict  of  Tiberius,  quoted  by  Josephus,  the  Jews 

1  Cf.  the  words  in  the  decree  of  Caius  Juhus  Ca:sar,  given  in 
Josephus  Antiq.  XIV,  x,  2.  (ed.  MargoUouth)  :  "  1  also  ordain, 
that  he  (John  Hyrcanus)  and  his  children  retain  whatsoever 
privileges  belong  to  the  office  of  high  priest.  .  .  .  And  if  at 
any  time  hereafter  there  arise  any  questions  about  the  Jewish 
customs,  I  will  that  he  determine  the  same." 


RESULTS   OF  THE   "DIASPORA"  113 

had  been  "  joint  inhabitants  in  the  earhest  times  with 
the  Alexandrians,  and  obtained  from  their  kings  equal 
privileges  with  them,  as  is  evident  by  the  public  records 
that  are  in  their  possession,  and  the  edicts  themselves  " 
(Ant.  XIX,  v,  2).  According  to  Philo  there  were 
synagogues  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  two  of  the  five 
districts  into  which  the  city  was  divided  were  called  the 
"  Jewish  "  quarters  on  account  of  their  being  inhabited 
almost  exclusively  by  Jews.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
deal  with  the  general  history  and  condition  of  the  Jews 
of  the  Dispersion,  but  from  our  present  point  of  view  it 
is  of  importance  to  reahze  the  far-reaching  effect  upon 
their  rehgion  which  this  intimate  contact  with  the  out- 
side world  had.  The  supreme  factor  which  influenced 
the  Judaism  of  the  Dispersion,  and  which  had  the  effect 
of  altering  the  very  essence  of  traditional  Judaism,  was 
Greek  thought  ;  the  Jews  of  Palestine  were  not  unaffected 
by  this,  but  their  brethren  who  hved  in  the  very  centres 
of  the  Greek  world  assimilated  so  much  of  its  spirit  that 
"  Hellenistic  Judaism  "  sometimes  represented  a  form  of 
belief  in  which  the  Judaism  was  almost  entirely  absorbed 
by  the  philosophy  of  Greece.^  This  was,  to  be  sure, 
exceptional,  but  it  only  represents  the  high-water  mark 
of  the  full  stream  of  the  Judaism  of  the  Diaspora.  It 
must  suffice  here  to  indicate  in  very  few  words  three 
points  regarding  the  subject  which  appear  to  be  of  para- 
mount importance.  Firstly,  and  what  is  perhaps  most 
significant  of  all,  the  spirit  which  animated  the  teachers 
among  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion.  Utterly  unhke  the 
traditional  attitude  of  intolerant  prejudice  towards  the 
Gentile  world  which  was  characteristic  of  the  strict 
Palestinian  Jew,  his  brother  of  the  Dispersion  regarded 
the  larger  world  of  his  surroundings  with  a  kindly  eye, 
ready  whenever  opportunity  offered    (though  this,  alas, 

1  Cf.  Josephus  Contra  A  p.  i,  22  (§§  1 76-1 81    in   Margoliouth's 
edition). 

9— (a4i7) 


114    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

was  not  often  the  case)  to  hold  converse  and  associate 
with  his  Gentile  neighbours  ;  his  religious  interests  were 
not  so  entirely  absorbed  in  his  own  view  of  things  but 
that  he  could  see  and  appreciate  the  excellencies  of  Greek 
thought  and  philosophy  ;  his  mind  was  open  to  receive 
and  to  be  influenced  by  what  was  good  and  true,  no  matter 
where  it  was  to  be  found  ;  while  deeply  convinced  of  the 
pre-eminent  truth  of  his  own  religion,  he  was  not  blind 
to  the  fact  that  Jehovah  was  the  God  of  the  whole  world  ; 
and,  hke  S.  Paul,  reahzed  that  it  was  possible  to  seek 
after  Him  and  worship  Him,  though  in  ignorance.  ^  The 
writer  of  the  "  Letter  of  Aristeas  "  bears  eloquent  testi- 
mony to  this  spirit  when  he  says  in  effect  :  "  Regarding 
discussions  and  explanations  of  the  Law  they  possessed 
great  aptitude.  They  struck  just  the  right  balance,  for 
they  discarded  the  hard  hteralness  of  the  letter,  and 
were  modest  with  regard  to  their  own  wisdom  and  were 
ready  to  hold  free  argument,  to  listen  to  the  opinions  of 
others,  and  to  consider  thoroughly  every  question  that 
might  be  raised"  (121,  122). ^  Thoroughly  in  keeping 
with  this  sympathetic  spirit  were  the  universalistic 
ideas  of  the  Diaspora-] ews  ;  this  characteristic  was  in 
direct  contrast  to  the  particularism  too  often  rife  among 
the  leaders  of  thought  among  the  Palestinian  Jews  ;  the 
largeness  of  heart  which  could  not  restrict  salvation  to 
the  children  of  Abraham  was  inseparable  from  the  true 
Diaspora-]ew ;  [but  see  further  on  these  points  the 
chapter  on  Eschatology].  A  third  marked  characteristic 
was  the  difference  shown  in  their  literature,  which 
embodied  the  spirit  and  teaching  just  referred  to. 

II.  The  Pharisees. 
The  appearance  of  the  Pharisees  as  a  distinct  party  in 
the  State  dates  from  the  time  of  John  Hyrcanus  (135-104 

^  Cf.   Acts    1723  .  .  .  What  therefore  ye  worship  in  ignorance, 
this  set  I  forth  unto  you. 
*  Kautsch's  edition. 


THE   PHARISEES  115 

B.C.)  ;  their  great  and  distinctive  characteristic  was  the 
strict  observance  of  the  Law,  as  interpreted  and  handed 
down  by  the  Scribes  ;  they  sought  to  carry  out  con- 
sistently in  their  lives  the  ideals  thought  out  by  the 
Scribes  ;  they  were  thus  "  the  classic  representatives  of 
that  tendency  which  the  internal  development  of  Israel 
altogether  adopted  during  the  post-exihan  period."  ^ 
The  ideal  of  carrying  out  the  precepts  of  the  Law  in  all 
their  minute  details  was,  theoretically,  one  which  all  Jews 
sought  to  attain  to  ;  but  it  was  the  Pharisees  who  set  the 
example  in  this,  and  by  their  increasing  endeavours  became 
the  national  champions  of  Jewish  legalism.  Pharisaism 
implied  not  only  the  minute  observance  of  the  Mosaic 
Law,  not  only  a  strict  regard  for  the  precepts  of  the  Oral 
Law  as  interpreted  and  handed  down  by  the  earher 
Scribes,  but  also  a  further  development  of  that  Law  as 
worked  out  by  themselves,  which  was  considered  equally 
binding.  The  Pharisees,  like  the  Sadducees,  issued  from 
the  circles  of  the  scribes,  and  though,  as  far  as  the  parti- 
cular duties  of  these  latter  were  concerned,  a  certain  dif- 
ferentiation is  to  be  observed,  yet  all  the  scribes  belonged 
either  to  the  Pharisaic  or  Sadducean  party.  All  the 
more  influential  scribes,  however,  were  attached  to  the 
Pharisees,  for  it  was  these  who  really  carried  on  the 
earlier  work  of  the  scribes  ;  they  were  the  ones  who  in 
the  wake  of  the  scribes  handed  on  the  "  traditions  of  the 
fathers."  What  the  Gospel  tells  us  on  this  point  (Matt. 
15^,  Mk.  73)  receives  corroboration  from  Josephus,  who 
says  :  "  The  Pharisees  have  delivered  to  the  people  a 
great  many  observances  by  succession  from  their  fathers, 
which  are  not  written  in  the  laws  of  Moses  ;  and  for  that 
reason  it  is  that  the  Sadducees  reject  them,  and  say,  that 
we  are  to  esteem  those  observances  to  be  obligatory  which 
are  in  the  written  word,  but  are  not  to  observe  what  are 
derived  from  the  tradition  of  our  forefathers."  ^     This 

»  Schiirer  op.  cit.  II,  ii,   10.  •  Antiq.  XIII,  x,  6. 


116    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

conflict  between  the  two  went  very  deep  ;  but  how  com- 
pletely the  Pharisees  won  the  day  can  be  seen  from  the 
fact  that  ultimately  it  was  not  the  written  law,  but  the 
traditional  interpretation  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
which  was  appealed  to  as  that  which  finally  decided  ;  so 
that  in  later  days  it  could  even  be  said  that  "it  is  more 
culpable  to  teach  contrary  to  the  precepts  of  the  scribes 
than  contrary  to  the  Torah  itself."  ^ 

As  regards  the  special  doctrinal  beliefs  of  the  Pharisees, 
Josephus  gives  us  the  following  details  :  they  ascribe 
all  to  providence,  that  is  to  say,  to  God,  and  yet  allow 
that  to  act  as  is  right,  or  the  contrary,  is  principally  in 
the  power  of  men,  although  fate,  or  providence,  does 
co-operate  in  every  action.  They  believe,  further,  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul ;  but  as  regards  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  it  is  only  the  souls  of  the  good  men  which 
are  "  removed  into  other  bodies,"  the  souls  of  the  wicked 
are  "  subject  to  eternal  punishment."  ^  In  another 
passage  this  belief  is  explained  more  fully :  "  They 
beheve  that  souls  have  an  immortal  vigour  in  them,  and 
that  under  the  earth  there  will  be  rewards  or  punishments, 
according  as  they  have  lived  virtuously  or  viciously  in 
this  life  ;  and  the  latter  are  to  be  detained  in  an  ever- 
lasting prison,  but  that  the  former  shall  have  power  to 
revive  and  live  again."  ^  The  influence  that  such  teaching 
gained  for  the  Pharisees  among  the  people  at  large  is 
vividly  brought  out  by  Josephus  :  "On  account  of  which 
doctrines  they  are  able  greatly  to  persuade  the  body  of 
the  people,  and  whatsoever  they  do  about  divine  worship, 
prayers,  and  sacrifices,  they  (the  people)  perform  them 
according  to  their  direction  ;  insomuch  that  the  cities 
give  great  attestations  to  them  on  account  of  their  entire 
virtuous  conduct  both  in  the  actions  of  their  fives,  and 
their    discourses   also."  ^     According    to   Acts   23^,   the 


1  Sanhedrin  xi,  3.  »  Bell.  Jud.  II,  viii,  14. 

3  Antiq.  XVIII,  i,  3.  cf.  Dan.   i2».  *  Ibid. 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PHARISEES    117 

Pharisees  taught  the  existence  of  angels  and  spirits  ;  this 
behef  was  not  held  by  the  Sadducees.  It  is  strange  that 
this  doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  is  nowhere  referred  to  by 
Josephus,  any  more  than  its  denial  by  the  Sadducees  ; 
but  both  the  belief  and  its  denial  are  so  obviously  the 
logical  outcome  of  what  each  party  taught  concerning 
the  resurrection,  that  apparently  it  appeared  unnecessary 
to  make  specific  mention  of  it.  There  can  be  no  sort 
of  doubt  that  the  passage  in  the  Acts  faithfully  represents 
the  actual  facts. 

The  data  given  in  the  New  Testament  concerning  the 
Pharisees  coincide  with  what  Josephus  tells  us,  viz.,  that 
"  they  valued  themselves  highly  upon  the  exact  skill  they 
had  in  the  law  of  their  fathers,"  ^  and  as  "  those  who  are 
esteemed  most  skilful  in  the  exact  explication  of  their 
laws  "  ;  2  thus  in  Acts  26^  S.  Paul  speaks  of  them  as  being 
the  str attest  sect  of  our  religion,  which  he  expresses  in 
Phil.  3^  by  saying  that  as  touching  the  law  he  was  a 
Pharisee.  In  the  Gospels  this  is  fully  illustrated  ;  there  we 
read  of  their  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  (Mk.  2^*,  3^"') 
of  their  fasting  (Mk  2^^),  of  their  practice  of  carrying 
out  the  niinuticB  of  the  law  (Mk.  j^'  *).^  But  the  picture 
which  the  Gospels  present  of  the  spirit  in  which  these 
legal  observances  were  practised  shows  how  utterly 
different  the  standpoint  was  between  what  tradition 
regarded  as  sufficient,  namely,  a  mechanical  routine,  and 
what  the  demands  of  the  new  teaching  were  (see  Matt. 
238,  13.  16,  etc.,  Lk.  11^3   39,  1810-14). 

The  name  Pharisee  illustrates  the  main  Pharisaic 
characteristic  of  strict  observance  of  the  law,  for  this 
strictness  of  observance  differentiated  them  from  the 
rest  of  the  people,  in  a  word  it  "  separated  "  them  from  the 
mass  of  the  population  ;  for  "  Pharisee  "  means  literally 
"  the  separated  one."     Originally  this  name  was  one  of 

1  Antiq.  XVII,  ii,  4.         «  Bell.  Jud.  II,  viii,  14. 
»  See  further  Matt.  23 -»» ;    Luke  ii""". 


118    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   x\ND   WORSHIP 

reproach,  given  them  by  their  adversaries,  because  on 
account    of    their    own  special  "  cleanness  " — i.e.,  legal 
purity — they  separated    themselves   from    the   bulk    of 
the  nation.     According  to  Schiirer  this  was  certainly  the 
original  meaning  of  the  name  ;  it  is  not  probable  that 
they  gave  it  to  themselves  because  other  "positive  self- 
designations  would  have  been  more  obvious  to  them,  and 
in  fact  they  first  appear  in  history  under   the   name  of 
Chassidim  "  ^  (the  "  Pious  ").    But  though  originally  given 
them  as  a  term  of  reproach,  it  was  one  which  from  the 
Pharisees'  point  of  view  was  regarded  as  quite  appropriate  ; 
for  they  did  consider  themselves  as  "  separated  "  from  the 
bulk  of  the  people  by  their  superior  holiness ;  while  in  their 
own  circle  they  spoke  of  each  other  as  Chaherim  ("  col- 
leagues "),  they  regarded  with  contempt  the  mere  common 
herd,  the  '  Am  ha-aretz  ("  the  people  of  land  ")  ;  cf.  the 
words  in    John    7^^  This   multitude    which    knoweth  not 
the  law  are  accursed,   spoken   by   the   Pharisees,   which 
accords  with  what  we  read   in    Mark   2^^'^"^ ,  Matt.  (f~^^, 
Luke  52 '"^'^  about  their  attitude  towards  publicans  and 
sinners.     "  This    exclusiveness    of    Pharisaism    certainly 
justifies  the  calling  of  it  an  hcBvesis,  a  '  sect,'  as  is  done  both 
in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  I5^  26^)  and  by  Josephus. 
Nevertheless  it  remains  the  fact,  that  it  was  the  legitimate 
and   classic   representative   of   post-exihan    Judaism   in 
general.     It  did  but  carry  out  with  relentness  energy  the 
consequences  of  its  principle.     Those  only  are  the  true 
Israel  who  observe  the  Law  in  the  strictest  manner.    Since 
only  the  Pharisees  did  this  in  the  full  sense,  they  only 
were  the  true  Israel,  which  was  related  to  the  remaining 
bulk  of  the  people  as  these  were  to  the  heathen."  ^ 

III.  The  Scribes. 
The  rise  of  the  Scribes  is  connected  in  the  closest  possible 
manner  with  the  fact  of  the  Torah.     It  will  be  seen  in  the 


1  Op.  cit.  II.  ii.  21.  2  Op.  cit.  II.  ii.  25. 


THE  SCRIBES  119 

Chapter  on  the  Law  what  a  compHcated  matter  its  study, 
and  understanding,  and  exposition  were  ;  it  followed, 
therefore,  that  the  existence  of  a  distinct  body  of  experts 
on  the  subject  became  a  necessity  ;  and  thus  there  arose 
the  Scribes,  with  whom  Torah-study  was  a  matter  of  pro- 
fessional occupation.  Originally  this  occupation  belonged 
to  the  priesthood,  for  the  priests  were  at  first  both 
the  guardians  and  teachers  of  the  Law.  Ezra  himself 
was  both  priest  and  Safer  {"  Scribe  ").^  But  by  degrees 
the  study  of  the  Law  was  pursued  by  others  besides  the 
priests — for  the  Law  was  meant  equally  for  layman  and 
priest,  and  the  one  had  as  much  interest  in  it  as  the 
other — so  that  there  arose  an  independent  class  of  Torah- 
students,  who  in  time  supplanted  the  priests  as  teachers 
of  the  people,  and  became  the  recognized  official  exponents 
of  the  Law.  At  the  same  time,  this  did  not  necessarily 
exclude  Scribes  from  being  priests,  for,  on  the  testimony 
of  Philo,  we  know  that  in  the  synagogues  priests 
often  undertook  the  duty  of  reading  the  Law  and 
expounding  it  to  the  people,  ^  a  duty  which  belonged 
specifically  to  the  Scribes  ;  so  that  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  Scribes  were  never  priests.  In  the 
first  instance.  Scribes  occupied  themselves  exclusively 
with  study,  they  were  not  allowed  to  pursue  any  other 
calling,  lest  their  thoughts  should  be  withdrawn  from 
Torah-study  (see  Ecclus.  38  '•*^)  :  The  wisdom  of  a  learned 
man  conieth  by  opportunity  of  leisure  :  and  he  that  hath 
little  business  shall  become  wise  .  .  ."  ;  but  in  later  days 
it  became  an  absolute  duty  for  them  to  have  some  other 
caUing  besides,  in  order  to  earn  a  livelihood,  the  reason 
being  that  all  labour  for  the  Law  had  to  be  gratuitous. 
For  the  most  part  the  Scribes,  as  we  have  seen,  belonged 
to  the  Pharisaic  party  ;  but  as  the  one  qualification 
for  being  a  Scribe  consisted  in  being  "  learned    in  the 


1  Ezra  7«'  ">• "  ;  Neh.  8'-  '^  »•  '3 ;   1 2^-  ^. 

*  Cf.  Holtzmann  Neutestamentl.  Zcitgcsch,  p.   i6o. 


120    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

Law,"  there  must  have  been  Scribes  in  the  Sadducean 
party  as  well,  indeed  this  is  imphed  in  the  New 
Testament  (see  Mark  2^^,  Luke  5^°,  Acts  23®).  As  the 
Scribes  were  occupied  with  the  administration  of  the 
Law  as  well  as  with  its  study,  they  were  also  called 
"Lawyers"  (see  Matt.  22^^  ,Luke  7^",  Io2^  11*^*®), 
or  "  teachers  of  the  Law  "  (see  Luke  5^',  Acts  5'*)  ; 
"  Lawyer  "  and  "  Scribe  "  are  synonymous,  for  which 
reason  they  are  never  mentioned  together  in  the  New 
Testament.  But  as  administrators  of  the  Law  it  fol- 
lowed, in  a  natural  course,  that  the  Scribes  should  also  be 
among  those  who  saw  to  its  being  carried  out  ;  so  that 
they  also  had  the  power  of  sitting  as  judges,  and  there- 
fore also  of  passing  sentence  upon  those  who  were  guilty 
of  breaking  the  Law.  Hence  Scribes  were  among  those 
who  composed  the  great  Sanhedrin  at  Jerusalem,  and  as 
they  were  the  ones  whose  special  study  of  the  Law  made 
them  experts,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  their  influence 
in  this  supreme  court  must  have  been  considerable. 

The  difference  between  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees 
was  briefly  this — the  Scribes  handed  down  the  traditional, 
i.e.,  the  Oral  Law  as  well  as  the  Written  Law,  and  explained 
it  ;  the  Pharisees  carried  out  in  actual  practice  what  was 
prescribed.  This,  of  course,  does  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
Scribes  did  not  also  strictly  observe  the  legal  enactments  ; 
but  that  their  special  duties  constituted  them  a  class 
distinct  from  the  Pharisees  is  clear  from  the  way  in 
which  they  are  differentiated  in  the  New  Testament,  for 
there  we  read  of  the  "  Scribes  of  the  Pharisees " 
(Mark  2^^  Acts  23^),  and  of  "  the  Pharisees  and  their 
scribes  "  (Luke  5^"),  showing  clearly  that  the  Scribes 
were  distinct  from  the  Pharisees. 

IV.  The  Sadducees. 
The  name  Sadducee  takes  its  origin  from  that  of  Zadok 
the  high-priest,  whose  family  had  exercised  the  priestly 
functions  from  the  time  of  David  (i  Chron.  15",  16^'"*''). 


THE  SADDUCEES  121 

In  writing  of  the  Sadducees  Josephus  says  that  their 
doctrine  is  "  received  but  by  a  few,  yet  by  those  still  of 
the  greatest  dignity,"  ^  and  in  another  passage  he  writes  : 
"  The  Sadducees  are  able  to  persuade  none  but  the  rich, 
and  have  not  the  populace  obsequious  to  them,  but  the 
Pharisees  have  the  multitude  on  their  side."  ^  These 
passages  bear  out  what  is  elsewhere  imphed,  that  the 
Sadducees  were  the  aristocratic  party  ;  for,  as  the  New 
Testament  points  out  (Acts  5^'),  the  high-priestly  families 
belonged  to  the  Sadducean  party  ^ ;  but  from  the 
commencement  of  the  Persian  period,  it  was  the  priests 
who  governed  the  Jewish  State  and  the  priests  in 
general  constituted  the  nobility  of  the  Jewish  people.* 

The  origin,  therefore,  of  the  antagonism  between 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees  was  probably  owing  to  a  differ- 
ence in  social  standing,  which  became  emphasized  later 
on  by  pohtical  enmity,  in  the  first  instance,  and  still  more 
by  opposing  religious  speculations.  The  main  opposition 
of  the  Sadducees  to  the  Pharisees  was  based  upon  their 
view  of  the  Oral  Law  ;  while  they  fully  acknowledged 
the  binding  character  of  the  Written  Law,  they  re- 
pudiated the  authority  of  the  Oral  Law  ;  in  the  words  of 
Josephus  :  "  The  Pharisees  have  delivered  to  the  people 
a  great  many  observances  by  succession  from  their 
fathers  which  are  not  written  in  the  laws  of  Moses  ;  and 
for  that  reason  it  is  that  the  Sadducees  reject  them,  and 
say,  that  we  are  to  esteem  those  observances  to  be  obliga- 
torv  which  are  in  the  written  word,  but  are  not  to  observe 
what  are  derived  from  the  tradition  of  our  forefathers. 
And  concerning  these  things  it  is  that  great  disputes  and 
differences  have  arisen  among  them."  ^  When  it  is 
remembered  that  this  involved  the  rejection  of  the  great 
mass  of  legal  precepts  which  the  Scribes  had  so  laboriously 


Antiq.  XVIII,  i,  4.  «  Ibid.  XIII,  x,  6. 

Cf.  Antiq.  XX,  ix,  i.         *  Schiirer  op.  cit.  II,   ii,   29. 
»  Aniiq.  XIII,  X,  6. 


122    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

developed  out  of  the  Written  Law,  and  which  the  Pharisees 
regarded  as  of  equal  authority  with  this  latter,  one  can 
understand  the  irreconcileable  antagonism  which  must 
have  existed  between  the  two  parties.  But  although 
the  Sadducees  so  exalted  the  Written  Law  above  the  Oral 
Law,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  they  held  slavishly  to 
the  letter  of  the  Law  ;  that  this  was  not  so  will  be  evident 
on  considering  the  distinctive  Sadducean  religious  tenets. 
Their  adhesion  to  the  Written  Law,  as  opposed  to  the 
Oral,  was  prompted  rather  from  the  desire  to  have  a  sure 
basis  upon  which  to  ground  their  objections  to  Scribal 
accretions.^  Regarding  the  special  doctrines  of  the 
Sadducees,  Josephus  records  that  "  they  take  away  fate 
(providence)  and  say  there  is  no  such  thing,  and  that  the 
events  of  human  affairs  are  not  at  its  disposal,  but  they 
suppose  that  all  our  actions  are  in  our  own  power,  so  that 
we  are  ourselves  the  causes  of  what  is  good,  and  receive 
what  is  evil  from  our  own  folly."  ^  Again :  "  The 
Sadducees  take  away  fate  entirely,  and  suppose  that 
God  is  not  concerned  in  our  doing  or  not  doing  what  is 
evil ;  and  they  say,  that  to  act  what  is  good  or  what  is 
evil,  is  at  men's  own  choice,  and  each  man  attaches  him- 
self to  the  one  or  the  other  as  he  will.  They  also  take 
away  the  beUef  of  the  immortal  duration  of  the  soul,  and 
the  punishments  and  rewards  in  Hades  ;  "  ^  they  held 
that  "  souls  die  with  the  bodies."  ^  Such  behefs  make 
it  clear  that,  as  said  above,  the  Sadducees  did  not  hold 
all  too  strictly  to  the  letter  even  of  the  Written  Law  ; 
they  permitted  themselves  a  more  independent  scope 
for  speculation.  That  they,  furthermore,  did  not  believe 
in  spirits  or  angels  we  have  already  seen  (see  Acts  23  ^). 
This  negative  behef  was  demanded  by  their  refusal  to 
believe  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  but  if  their  belief 


Cf.  Friedlander  Die  rel.  Bewegungen  ...  p.  14. 
Antiq.  XIII.  v,  9.  '  Bell.  Jud.  II,  viii,   14. 

1  Aniiq.  XVIII,  i,  4. 


THE  ESSENES  123 

that  God  is  not  concerned  with  the  affairs  of  men  was 
the  outcome  of  transcendental  ideas  regarding  the  Deity,^ 
then  one  may  wonder  at  their  not  beheving  in  angels 
(see  further  ch.  viii.). 

V.  The  Essenes. 
The  Essenes  offer  a  very  interesting,  but  somewhat 
problematical,  phenomenon  in  history.  The  meaning  of 
their  name  is  unknown,  their  origin  is  unknown,  and  they 
disappear  from  history — during  the  second  century  a.d. 
— without  leaving  a  trace  behind  them.  In  some  respects 
they  remind  one  of  the  order  of  Good  Templars,  as  these 
existed  in  the  late  Middle  Ages,  while  their  manner  of  Ufe 
recalls  in  certain  points  the  strict  simplicity  of  the  sons 
of  Rechab,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Josephus,  who  is  our  chief  authority  on  the  subject,  always 
speaks  of  the  Essenes  as  a  "  genos  "  (lit.  "  a  kind  "),  which 
implies  a  closer  communion  than  a  "  haeresis  "  ("  sect  "), 
the  term  he  applies  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  ^ 
This  agrees  with  what  Philo  says  as  to  their  num- 
bers, namely  that  there  were  four  thousand  of  them, 
though  in  other  places  they  are  spoken  of  as  far  more 
numerous.  They  lived  in  various  parts  of  Palestine  ;  the 
little  community  had  a  central  house  in  each  of  the  different 
cities  and  villages  in  which  they  settled  ;  around  this 
house  they  dwelt,  but  assembled  in  it  for  their  religious 
observances,  one  of  which  was  the  common  meal  ;  at  this 
meal  special  holy  garments  were  worn,  which  were  put 
off  again  when  their  wearers  returned  to  work  ;  a  priest 
offered  up  prayer  before  and  after  the  meal.  In  the  even- 
ing another  meal  was  partaken  of ;  at  this  guests  might  be 
present  ;  the  greatest  self-control  and  decorum  reigned, 
food  and  drink  were  restricted  to  what  was  absolutely 
necessary  ;  no  more  than  one  spoke  at  a  time.  They  had 
no  private  property,  everything  was  in  common  ;  all  that 


*  Cf.  Holtzmann,  0/5.  ctV.  p.  212.  '  Ibid.  p.  216. 


124    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

anyone  earned  was  put  into  a  common  fund,  from  which 
any  member  could  draw  as  need  required  ;    but  the  use 
of  this  fund  was  not  restricted  to  members  of  the  order  ; 
the  poor  and  the  sick  generally  were  assisted  from  it. 
"  Overseers,"  elected  from  among  the  members,  adminis- 
tered the  fund  and  regulated  all  the  affairs  of  the  order. 
Marriage    was  eschewed  by  the  Essenes,^  so    that    the 
order  was  only  recruited  from  outside  ;  whenever  a  new 
candidate  sought  admission  he  had  to  pass  a  three  years' 
noviciate,  and  on  being  admitted  he  had,  after  submitting 
to  a  form  of  Baptism,  to  take  solemn  oaths  to  obey  the 
rules  of  the  Order  and  to  observe  its  secrets.     As  to  their 
deeply    rehgious     character,     Josephus    says :     "  Their 
piety  towards  God  is  very  extraordinary  ;    for,  before 
sun-rising  they  speak  not  a  word  about  profane  matters, 
but  put  up  certain  prayers,  which  they  have  received  from 
their  forefathers,  as  if  they  made  a  supplication   for  its 
rising.  .  .  .  They  dispense  their  anger  after  a  just  manner, 
and  restrain  their  passion.     They  are  eminent  for  fidelity, 
and  are  the  ministers  of  peace  ;  whatsoever  they  say  also 
is  firmer  than  an  oath  ;  but  swearing  is  avoided  by  them, 
and  they  esteem  it  worse  than  perjury  ;  for  they  say  that 
he  who  cannot  be  beheved,  without  [swearing  by]  God  is 
already  condemned.  .  .  ."^  Further,  before  being  admitted 
to  the  order,  the  aspirant  had  to  take  a  very  solemn  oath 
that  he  would  always  be  a  lover  of  truth,  and  rebuke 
hars,  that  he  would  keep  himself  clear  from  thefts  and  all 
unlawful  gains ;  above  all,  that  he  would  always  exercise 
piety  towards  God,  and  be  just  towards  all  men,  that 
he  would   harm   nobody,   but   that  he  would  hate  the 
wicked  while  always  assisting  the  righteous.  '     If  they 
fell  into  grievous  sin  they  were  cast  out  of  the  society ; 
but  on  showing  true  repentance,  and  after  having  been 

-  1  "  They  neither  marry  wives,  nor  are  desirous  to  keep  servants  ; 
as  thinking  the  latter  tempts  men  to  be  unjust,  and  the  former 
gives  the  handle  to  domestic  quarrels." — Antiq.  XVIII,  i,  5. 
»  Bell  Jud.  II,  viii,   5,  6.  »  Ibid.  II,  viii,  7. 


ESSENE   DOCTRINES  125 

sufficiently  punished,  they  might  be  received  into  the 
circle  again.  Their  heroism  Josephus  describes  as 
follows  : — 

"  As  for  death,  if  it  will  come  with  glory,  they 
esteem  it  better  than  immortality  ;  and  indeed  our  war 
with  the  Romans  gave  abundant  evidence  what  great 
souls  they  had  in  their  trials,  wherein,  although  they 
were  tortured  and  distorted,  burnt,  and  torn  to  pieces, 
and  went  through  all  kinds  of  instruments  of  torment, 
that  they  might  be  forced  either  to  blaspheme  their 
legislator,  or  to  eat  what  was  forbidden  them,  yet  could 
they  not  be  made  to  do  either  of  them,  no  nor  once  to 
flatter  their  tormentors  or  to  shed  a  tear  ;  but  they 
smiled  in  their  very  pains,  and  laughed  those  to  scorn  who 
inflicted  the  torments  upon  them,  and  resigned  up  their 
souls  with  great  alacrity,  as  expecting  to  receive  them 
again."  i  A  strange  fact  about  the  Essenes  was  that  they 
would  never  enter  the  Temple,  lest  they  should  become 
unclean  through  contact  with  the  crowds  there  ;  sacrifices 
were  therefore  not  offered  by  them,  but  they  nevertheless 
sent  offerings  to  the  Temple.  Some  religious  grounds 
evidently  lay  at  the  back  of  their  refusal  to  use  oil, 
or  to  spit ;  similar  reasons  must  also  account  for  other 
strange  customs  to  which  Josephus  refers, ^ 

As  regards  the  doctrines  of  the  Essenes,  we  are  told,  in 
the  first  place,  that  they  affirm  that  "  fate  governs  all 
things,  and  that  nothing  befalls  men,  but  what  is  accor- 
ding to  its  determination  ;  "  ^  on  this  point,  therefore, 
they  and  the  Sadducees  were  at  opposite  extremes,  while 
the  Pharisees  occupied  a  middle  position  between  the  two. 
Secondly,  they  had  a  great  veneration  for  the  Law  ;  as 
regards  Sabbath-observance,  Josephus  tells  us  that  "they 
are  stricter  than  any  other  of  the  Jews  in  resting  from 
their  labours  on  the  seventh  day  .  .  ."  *  and  Philo  says : 

»  Ibid.  II,  viii,  lo.  "^  Ibid.  II,  viii.  3,  9. 

»  BcU  Jud.  XIII,  V.  9.         *  Bell  Jud.  II,  viii,  9. 


126    SYNx\GOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

"  Their  pursuit  of  ethic  is  especially  thorough  since  they 
take  for  instructors  the  laws  of  their  fathers,  which  no 
human  soul  could  possibly  have  conceived  without 
Divine  inspiration."  ^  In  their  worship  they  read  and 
expounded  the  Holy  Scriptures,  delighting  especially 
in  allegorical  interpretation.  A  third  point  is  this,  in 
the  words  of  Josephus  :  "  The  opinion  is  strongly  held 
among  them,  that  bodies  are  corruptible,  and  that  the 
matter  they  are  made  of  is  not  permanent  ;  but  that  the 
souls  are  immortal,  and  continue  for  ever,  and  that  they 
come  out  of  the  most  subtile  air,  and  are  united  to  their 
bodies  as  to  prisons,  into  which  they  are  drawn  by  a  cer- 
tain natural  enticement ;  but  that  when  they  are  set 
free  from  the  bonds  of  the  flesh,  they  then,  as  released 
from  a  long  bondage,  rejoice  and  mount  upward.  And 
their  opinion  is  hke  that  of  the  Greeks,  that  good  souls 
have  their  habitations  beyond  the  ocean,  in  a  region  that 
is  neither  oppressed  with  storms  of  rain  or  snow,  or  with 
intense  heat,  but  that  this  place  is  such  as  is  refreshed  by 
the  gentle  breathing  of  a  west  wind  that  is  perpetually 
blowing  from  the  ocean,  while  they  allot  to  bad  souls  a  dark 
and  tempestuous  den,  full  of  never-ceasing  punishments."  * 
Lastly,  the  Essenes  had  an  elaborate  Angelology  ;  the 
novices  had  to  swear  to  keep  secret  the  names  of  their 
angels  ;  they  believed  further  in  the  sanatory  powers  of 
roots,  and  in  the  properties  of  stones  ^ ;  and  they  were 
accredited  with  the  faculty  of  foretelling  the  future  ; 
Josephus  says  they  were  seldom  mistaken  in  their  pre- 
dictions, and  he  gives  three  examples  of  the  correctness 
of  their  prophecies.* 

With  regard  to  the  difficult  question  of  the  relation  of 
Essenism  to  early  Christianity,  |it  is  not  possible  here  to 
do  more  than  refer  to  the  matter.     It  is  clear  that  our 

1  Quoted  in  Schiirer  op.  cit.  II,  ii,  p.  202. 

»  Bell.  Jud.  II,  viii,  11. 

»  Ihid.  II,  viii,  6-12.  I,  iii,  5.  II,  vii,  3. 

*  Antiq.  XIII,  xi,  2  ;  XV,  x,  5  ;  XVII,  xiii,  3. 


THE    KARAITES  127 

Lord,  at  any  rate,  with  His  frank  acceptance  of  and  joy  in 
the  social  conditions  of  ordinary  hfe  could  have  been  no 
Essene.  See  the  matter  fully  discussed  in  Friedlander, 
Die  religiosen  Beivegungen  .  .  .  referred  to  above,  and 
in  JE,  V,  231  ff.  S.V.,  Essenes. 

VI.  The  Karaites. 

Although  the  rise  of  the  Karaites  dates  in  post-Tal- 
mudical  times,  a  word  may  be  appropriately  said  here 
regarding  them,  inasmuch  as  they  appear,  in  their  fun- 
damental characteristic,  as  the  spiritual  descendants  of 
the  Sadducees.  In  its  Hebrew  form  the  word  for  Karaites 
is  Beni  Mikra,  i.e.,  "Sons  of  reading."  As  their  name 
implies,  they  professed  to  follow  the  teaching  of 
what  they  read  in  the  Bible,  ignoring  altogether 
that  of  the  Rabbis.  It  is  a  repetition  of  the  Sad- 
ducean  attitude,  viz.,  loyalty  to  the  Written  Law,  but 
repudiation  of  the  Oral  Law.  The  rise  of  the  Karaites 
was,  in  fact,  a  protest  against  Rabbinism,  just  as  the 
existence  of  the  Sadducean  party  was  a  protest  against 
Pharisaism.  The  founder  of  the  sect — which  originated 
about  800  A.D. — was  named  Anan,  and  originally  his 
followers  were  called,  after  him,  Ananites  ;  but  as,  in 
some  respects,  the  tenets  of  the  early  Ananites  became 
modified,  they  adopted  the  name  of  Karaites,  which  they 
have  held  ever  since. 

Karaism  owes  its  origin  as  much  to  the  influence  of 
Mohammedanism  as  to  Judaism,  for  it  borrowed  from  Islam 
as  well  as  from  early  Jewish  sects,  such  as  the  Sadducees 
and  Essenes.  The  Arabs,  among  whom  the  Jews  lived, 
had  enthusiastically  accepted  the  simple  faith  which 
Mohammedanism  originally  was  ;  but  just  as  among  the 
Jews  the  Talmud  had  arisen  and  become  the  prime  au- 
thority in  Jewry  for  explaining  and  amplifying  the  Law, 
so  among  the  Mohammedans  the  "  Sunnah  "  arose  to 
supplement  the  teaching  of  the  Koran.  Each,  the 
Talmud  and  the  "  Sunnah,"  sought  to  impose  a  more 


128    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

elaborate  and  a  stricter  carrying-out  of  legal  observances 
than  was  enj  oined  in  either  the  Old  Testament  or  the  Koran. 
One  result  was  that  an  Arab  sect  arose,  the  members  of 
which  protested  against  this  stricter  observance  ;  their 
example  was  followed  by  a  number  of  Jews  who  in  a 
Hke  spirit  rebelled  against  Talmudism,  and  who  thus 
originated  the  Ananite,  later  Karaite,  sect.  The  desire 
of  the  Karaites  to  stick  closely  to  the  letter  of  Scripture 
soon  involved  them  in  considerable  difficulties  and  some- 
times in  impossibilities  ;  so  that  they  were  forced,  to 
some  extent,  to  modify  their  original  position.  They 
never  reached  large  numbers  ;  but  they  have  continued 
to  exist  up  to  the  present  day,  and  are  to  be  found  in 
Jerusalem,  Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Russia.  In  one  direction, 
however,  the  influence  of  the  Karaite  sect  was  profound 
and  far-reaching.  As  already  remarked,  the  main  prin- 
ciple of  Karaism  was  to  regard  Scripture  as  the  sole 
authority  in  matters  of  faith  ;  this  meant,  on  the  one 
hand,  an  entire  disregard  of  all  Rabbinical  interpretation 
and  tradition  ;  but  it  entailed,  on  the  other  hand,  a  new 
examination  of  the  text  of  Scripture.  The  Karaites, 
therefore,  undertook  a  most  minute  and  critical  study 
of  the  Biblical  text,  a  study  which  concerned  itself  with 
the  smallest  details,  even  down  to  the  consideration  of 
each  individual  letter.  In  order  to  oppose  and  refute  the 
Karaite  teaching  which  resulted  from  this  examination 
of  the  text,  the  Rabbis  were  compelled  to  undertake  a 
similar  task.  This  critical  study  developed  into  a  very 
keen  contest  between  Rabbinic  and  Karaite  champions. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  bulk  of  the  work  of  compiling 
an  authoritative  text  must  be  assigned  to  the  heretical 
Karaites.  The  outcome  of  this  hterary  conflict  was  of 
the  highest  importance,  for  it  produced  what  is  called  the 
"  Massoretic  "  text  (from  the  Hebrew  word  Massora, 
"Tradition")  ;  his  is  the  text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  at 
the  present  day,  and  it  is  also  that  from  which  the  English 
Bible  (Old  Testament)  is  translated. 


THE   CHASSIDIM  129 

VII.    The  Chassidim  (The  "Pious"). 

Leaving  on  one  side  the  mystical  Kabbalistic  movement 
(thirteenth  century),^  which  has  had  such  a  profound 
influence  on  later  Judaism,  especially  among  the  unpro- 
gressive  communities  of  eastern  Europe,  and  which  has 
left  unmistakable  traces  on  the  Jewish  Liturgy,  a  word 
must  here  be  said  about  the  remarkable  sect  of  the 
Chassidim. 

The  rise  of  Chassidism,  which  may  be  dated  from  the 
death  of  its  founder,  Israel  Baal  Shem  (died  1761),  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  in  the  more  recent 
history  of  Judaism.  Chassidism  marks,  it  has  been  well 
said,  "  a  revolt  among  the  Jews  of  Eastern  Europe  against 
the  excessive  casuistry  of  the  contemporary  Rabbis."  ^ 
Kabbalistic  influence,  as  would  be  expected,  is  prominent 
in  these  circles.  The  history  of  this  remarkable  sect, 
which  at  the  present  time  numbers  about  half  a  milhon 
adherents  in  Europe,  deserves  more  attention  than  it  has 
received  from  students  of  religious  history.  Prof. 
Schechter,  whose  essay  is  by  far  the  best  available 
authority  on  the  subject  in  English,  goes  on  to  remark  : 
"It  {Chassidism)  was  the  protest  of  an  emotional  but 
uneducated  people  against  a  one-sided  expression  of 
Judaism,   presented  to  them   in   cold    and   over-subtle 


1  Kabbalistic  teaching  assumed  its  most  extravagant  propor- 
tions in  the  extensive  work  known  as  the  Zohar  (thirteenth  cen- 
tury), which  claims  to  be  the  production  of  R.  Simon  ben  Jochai, 
the  famous  mystic  of  the  second  century.  The  Zohar  in  its  present 
form,  however,  is  in  date  more  than  a  tliousand  years  later.  There 
was,  undoubtedly,  an  earlier  mystical  tradition  {Kabbalah)  which 
can  be  traced  to  very  early  beginnings.  This  earUer  tradition 
is  embodied  more  or  less  in  the  Sefer  Yetsirah  (see  JE,  s.v.,  Yezirah 
Sefer  xii,  bo2  f).  The  Zohar  has  exercised  a  considerable  (and  not 
always  a  healthy)  influence  on  popular  Judaism.  It  powerfully 
appealed  to  Christian  students  as  well  as  to  Jewish  mystics,  and 
has  often  been  printed  (in  the  Hebrew  text).  Too  much  impor- 
tance has  sometimes  been  assigned  to  it,  especially  by  earlier 
Christian  scholars,  and  notably  by  Gfrorer. 

*  Schechter,  Studies,  pp.   i   if.  Essay  on  Chassidism. 


130    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

disquisitions  which  not  only  did  they  not  understand, 
but  which  shut  out  the  play  of  the  feelings  and  of  the 
affections,  so  that  religion  was  made  almost  impossible 
to  them."  ^ 

An  attractive  study  of  the  founder  of  Chassidism  is 
to  be  found  in  Zangwill's  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,  pp. 
201-257. 

VIII.  Minor  Divisions. 

For  the  sake  of  completeness  the  following  minor 
divisions  among  the  Jews  must  here  be  mentioned  :  [a) 
The  Chinese  Jews,  an  interesting  survival;  [h)  the  B'nei 
Israel,  in  Bombay  and  other  parts  of  India  ;  (c)  The 
Yemenite  Jews,  i.e.,  the  Jews  of  southern  Arabia  ;  {d)  The 
Falashas  i.e.,  the  Jews  of  Abyssinia.  Fuller  details  as 
to  these  communities  can  be  found  in  two  articles  in  the 
JQR  (viii,  123  ff.,  x,  584  ff.)  on  the  liturgy  and  rites  of 
the  Chinese  Jews,  by  Neubauer  and  Elkan  Adler  ;  The 
Jews  in  India  and  the  Far  East,  by  J.  H.  Lord  ;  JE, 
art.  "  Yemen,"  xii,  592-594 ;  Wanderings  among  the 
Falashas  in  Abyssinia,  by  H.  A.  Stern. 

IX.  The  Reform  Jews. 

Lastly,  since  the  time  of  Moses  Mendelssohn  (1729-1786) , 
various  Jewish  communities  on  the  Continent,  in  England, 
and  especially  in  America,  have,  in  varying  degrees, 
abandoned  the  rigid  and  unbending  attitude  characteristic 
of  Jewish  orthodoxy,  and  put  themselves,  with  greater  or 
less  freedom,  under  the  influence  of  Liberal  ideas.  Reform 
Judaism,  however,  in  spite  of  the  ethical  fervour  that 
usually  marks  its  adherents,  is  the  result  rather  of  the 
operation  within  Judaism  of  the  disintegrating  forces  of 
Western  culture  than  of  any  deep-seated  religious  motive- 
power.  It  is  painfully  deficient  in  anything  like  religious 
warmth. 

The  main  and  fundamental  difference  between  Orthodox, 

1  Schechter,  Studies,  p.  2. 


THE    "BRESLAU"   SCHOOL  131 

or  Conservative,  and  Reform,  or  Liberal,  Jews  lies  here  : 
the  former,  as  of  old,  declare  that  the  laws  concerning 
sacrifice  and  Levitical  purity  are  integral  parts  of  Judaism ; 
the  latter  deny  this.  ^  It  follows  quite  naturally  that  as 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  disputed,  so  that  of  the 
Talmud  should  also  be  called  in  question. 

Between  the  extremes  of  Orthodoxy  and  Liberalism  lies 
the  so-called  "  Breslau  School,"  with  Zacharias  Frankel  at 
its  head.  The  champions  of  this  intermediate  position  en- 
deavour to  smile  on  both  Orthodoxy  and  Reform  Juda- 
ism by  coupling  the  cry,  "Positive  Historical  Judaism," 
with  the  principle  of  tempering  Conservatism  with  Reform. 
They  no  longer  believe  in  the  Mosaic  origin  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, nor  in  the  divine  character  of  tradition. ^  Clearly, 
therefore,  the  middle  party  cannot  be  regarded  as  belong- 
ing to  the  orthodox  party  at  all ;  their  position  would 
be  more  correctly  defined  as  Moderate  Liberals.  But 
even  among  the  Reform  Jews  there  is  not  unanimity.  It 
is  admitted  that  there  are  many  who  might  rightly  be 
called  "  indifferentists  "  ;  religion  does  not  appeal  to 
some,  to  others  Judaism  is  far  off  and  uninteresting  ; 
these,  it  is  said,  "  will  remain  quietly  discontented 
and  distant,  while  their  children  may  be  expected  to 
drop  off  more  completely  still,  or  to  join  other  religious 
denominations."  ^ 

It  is,  however,  not  enough  to  say  that  the  repudiation 
of  the  authority  of  Bible  and  Talmud  is  alone  that  which 
has  brought  about  the  Reform  Movement ;  there  is  no 
doubt  that  many  Jews  have  never  really  taken  the  trouble 
to  think  out  for  themselves  whether  or  not  these  authori- 
ties are  binding  and  why  they  should  or  should  not  be. 
Leading  men  among  the  Jews,  to  whom  religion  was  of 
the  deepest  import,  noticed  with  sorrow  that  attendance 
at  divine  worship  in  the  synagogue  was  getting  worse 


1  JE,  vii,   367. 
»  Ibid. 


JQR,  xii,  pp.  620-622. 


132    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  worse  ;  what  was  the  reason  of  this  ?  According  to 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Reform  Movement,  there  were 
several  reasons  ;  it  will  be  instructive  to  examine  these 
very  briefly. 

1.  The  Services  in  Synagogue  are  conducted  in  Hebrew 

— i.e.,  in  a  language  "not  understanded  of  the 
people."  This  will  come  as  a  surprise  to  many 
Christians,  who  are,  for  the  most  part,  under  the 
impression  that  Hebrew  is  the  current  language 
of  the  Jews.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Every 
boy  is  taught  Hebrew  in  the  Jewish  schools,  but 
the  majority  do  not  keep  it  up  after  leaving 
school.  The  language  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Jews  in  England  is  not  English,  it  is  true,  nor  is  it 
Hebrew,  but  Yiddish,  a  corrupt  form  of  German. 
The  fact  is  that  when  Jews  go  to  Synagogue,  most 
of  them  understand  very  little  of  the  language  in 
which  the  Services  are  conducted.  The  Jewish 
Prayer-Book  has  Hebrew  on  one  side  and  English 
on  the  other,  so  as  to  be  of  some  help  ;  but 
obviously,  if  Hebrew  is  not  known,  it  must  be 
very  difficult  to  follow  the  service  even  with  a 
translation.  The  result  is  that  many,  finding  it 
impossible  to  take  an  intelligent  part  in  Synagogue 
Service,  stay  away  altogether. 

2.  Many    complain   of    the    dulness   and   uninspiring 

nature  of  the  Services  ;  they  are  very  long  and 
a  great  part  is  taken  up  with  the  Reading  of  the 
Law,  "  which  is  often  dull  and  unspiritual,"  and 
the  method  of  reading,  a  kind  of  nasal  droning,  is 
certainly  not  calculated  to  inspire  hsteners. 

3.  Then,  it  is  said  that  the  congregation   are  unable 

to  take  any  active  part  in  the  service  ;  there  is 
no  singing,  at  least  for  them,  no  organ,  and  no 
opportunity  for  lifting  up  the  voice  in  praise  and 
thanksgiving. 

4.  Again,    there    are    customs,    ancient    customs,    in 


THE   REFORM   MOVEMENT  133 

vogue  in  the  Synagogue  which  are  alien  to  the 
modern,  or  at  least  to  the  Western,  mind;  e.g.,  no 
women  are  allowed  in  the  body  of  the  Synagogue, 
they  have  to  sit  in  a  high  gallery  closely  railed  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  building  ;   the  wearing  of  the 
Praying-shawl  and  Phylacteries  appears  ludicrous 
to  many  Western  minds. 
5.  One  other  reason  is  of  great  significance  ;    the  chief 
service  is  on  Saturday  (Sabbath)  morning  ;    the 
world  around  them  is  busy,  while  the  Jews  are  in 
Synagogue.     What  this  means  to  the  Jew  in  the 
city,  in  the  warehouse  and  in  the  shop,  needs  no 
explaining.* 
But  perhaps    the  most  potent  reason  of  all,  at   least 
for   the   cultured,  intellectual  Jews,  who  are  the  back- 
bone of  the  Reform   Movement,  is  the  following,  which 
is  given   in    the   words   of  one  of   themselves  :    "  I   do 
not    attend    the    Synagogue    because    (apart    from    the 
historic    interests   connected    with    the    ancient   cult)   I 
have  no  sympathy  with  and  cannot  realize  the  benefits 
that  can  be  derived  from  the  services  performed  in  the 
Synagogue  or  with    the   recitals  of   narratives  relating 
to  the  early  history,  which,  being  miraculous,  and  of  the 
highest   improbability,    I    cannot   regard   as  true,  or  to 
speak  frankly,  of  any  value  whatever.     The  theories  of 
ethics    that   I   hear  are  not  those  which  I  beHeve,  and, 
to  use  general  terms  my  mind  is  transferred  into  a  totally 
different  sphere  of  thought.     And  as  I  am  unable  to  accept 
the  doctrines  inculcated  within  the  Synagogue,  I,  as  every 
honest  thinker  would  do,  absent  myself  from  attendance 
at  the  services.     The  position  I  am  bound  to  assume,  is, 
I  regret  to  say,  not  only  absence  of  sympathy  with,  but 
actual  repugnance  to,  the  whole  scheme  of  Judaism.     I 
cannot  accept  the  chief  dogmas  which  underlie  historic 
Judaism.     I  cannot  comprehend   the  '  Chosen    People.' 


1  Cf.  C.  Montefiore,  JQR,  xii,  pp.  624  ff. 


134    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

It  is  a  phrase  that  has  no  meaning  to  me.  The  Divine 
Revelation  at  Sinai  is  to  me  a  legendary  epic  of  unknown 
authority.  The  miraculous  element  is  to  my  mind  injurious 
to  piety,  and  creates  in  me  the  sentiment  of  repulsion. 
Without  considering  whether  miracles  can  or  cannot  take 
place,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  allege  that  no  recorded 
miracle  rests  on  evidence  sufficiently  trustworthy  to 
convince  any  but  the  most  credulous  of  mankind.  Judaism 
rests  on  the  '  Book  '  and  on  tradition — neither  support 
can  be  regarded  at  the  present  day  as  valid."  '  And  so 
on  for  a  number  of  pages ; — the  most  curious  part  of  it  all 
is  that  a  thinking  man,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile,  who 
presumably  is  not  ignorant  of  the  questions  of  the  day, 
should  be  found  to  take  up  a  position  as  antiquated  as  the 
seventeenth  century  atheist  ;  things  have  moved  since 
those  days,  and  the  intellectual  unbeliever  of  to-day  uses 
far  more  cogent  arguments  than  the  mere  assertion  that 
miracles  cannot  happen.  That,  however,  by  the  way, 
the  point  for  us  to  notice  is  that  this  attitude  is  char- 
acteristic of  thousands  of  Jews  to-day,  many,  no  doubt, 
not  quite  so  extreme  as  the  writer  quoted.  But  this 
attitude  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  Modern  Judaism. 

It  therefore  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  among  Jewish 
rehgious  leaders,  there  are  to  be  found  some  who  feel 
impelled  to  employ  new  methods  in  seeking  to  stem  this 
tide  of  unbelief. 

It  is  thus  that  the  Reform  Movement  has  come  into 
being. 

1  JQR,  xiii,  p.  64  ;    see  the  whole  article,  pp.  63-85. 


Tlir  Reader  at  the  Desk  (or  Bona) 

(Seep.  3")  To  face  p.  134 


PART    II.      DOGMATIC  JUDAISM 


CHAPTER    VII. 
The  Law. 

The  Torah  the  final  Revelation  of  God  for  all  Time — Salvation  only 
through  the  Torah — The  I-egalistic  Element  in  Jewish  Piety — 
Israel  the  People  of  the  Torah — Christ  and  the  Law — The  Oral 
Tradition. 

[Literature  :—///P,    II,    ii.    pp.    90-125;    Friedlander,    The 

Jewish  Religion,  pp.  57-62;  Weber,  pp.  1-47;  Bousset, 
pp.  87-120;  Toy,  Judaism  and  Christianity  ;  Holtzmann, 
pp.  322-353  J^<  art.   Torah.] 

I.   The  Torah  the   Final  Revelation    of  God  for 
ALL  Time. 

Nothing  reveals  more  truly  the  real  essence  of  Judaism 
than  the  position  assigned  by  it  to  the  Law  or  Torah. 
This  was  the  great  theme  of  controversy  between  the  early 
Church  as  represented  by  St.  Paul  and  Gentile-Christian 
communities,  and  the  Synagogue.  A  full  discussion  of 
that  controversy  would  be  out  of  place  here  ;  but  it  may 
be  said  that  some  injustice  has  unquestionably  been  done 
to  the  Jewish  position  by  Christian  theologians.  The 
Law  was  by  no  means  usually  the  burden  that  it  has 
been  supposed  to  be  to  pious  Jews ;  but  the  apologists  of 
Judaism  as  a  rule  forget  that  what  St.  Paul  was  mainly 
concerned  to  secure  was  the  freedom  of  non-Jews  from  the 
yoke  of  the  Law.  He  felt  that  this  yoke  was  intolerable 
to  all  who  were  not  bom  Jews,  or  who  wished  to  be 
something  more  than  Jews  of  the  orthodox  type  ;  in  other 
words,  he  felt  that  a  legalistic  religion  was  incompatible 
with  the  claims  of  a  world-religion.  Was  any  man  called 
being  circwncized  ?     Let  him  not  become  uncircumcized ; 

135 


136    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

hath  any   been   called  in  uncircumcision,  let  him  not  be 
circumcized  (i  Cor,  7^^).^ 

It  was  by  means  of  the  Tor  ah,  so  the  Rabbis  taught, 
that  God  revealed  Himself  to  His  people.  In  it  the  Divine 
Mind  was  reflected,  and  in  it  the  Divine  Will  was  stated 
once  for  all  ;  "  that  which  is  of  the  Tor  ah  needs  not  con- 
firmation "2;  i.e.,  there  is  no  appeal  from  the  decisions  of 
the  Torah.  It  contained,  moreover,  the  essence  of  the 
Divine  Wisdom  ;  indeed,  it  is  again  and  again  stated  in 
Rabbinical  literature  that  Wisdom  and  the  Torah  are 
identical.^ 

This  is  also  true  of  the  Apocryphal  Writings,  see  Ecclus. 
24  ;  after  the  praise  of  Wisdom  (vv.  1-22),  there  follow 
these  words  (v.  23):  All  these  things  are  the  book  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Most  High  God,  even  the  Torah  which  Moses 
commanded  for  an  heritage  unto  the  congregations  of  Jacob.* 
See,  too,  Baruch,  4'  (cf.  Kautsch  in  loc,  and  Taylor's 
Pirke  A  both  (p.   173). 

A  thing  that  so  closely  corresponded  with  the  mind  of 
God,  and  expressed  the  fulness  of  His  Wisdom,  must 
logically  have  existed  with  God  from  all  eternity  ;  in  fact, 
the  Torah  was  not  to  be  reckoned  among  created  things  in 
the  ordinary  sense,  for  its  pre-existence  before  the  Creation 
takes  it  out  of  the  category  of  created  things.  This  is 
practically  stated  in  so  many  words  in  Bereshith  rabbah  c.  8, 
and  Pesikta  109^,  where  it  is  said  that  the  Torah  is  two 
thousand  years  older  than  the  Creation.  But  the  identi- 
fication of  Wisdom  with  the  Torah  necessitated  caution  ; 
for  if,  as  certainly  was  the  case.  Wisdom  was  personified, 
and  existed  before  the  Creation,  which  was  beHeved  to 
be  the  case,  then  we  get  a  personality  other  than  God  in 
existence  before  the  Creation,  and  this  would,  of  course, 


1  For  an  excellent  exposition  of  the  Jewish  point  of  view  in 
criticism  of  St.  Paul,  see  an  article  by  Mr.  C.  G.  Montefiore,  "  Rab- 
binic Judaism  and  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,"  in  JQR,  xiii  (Jan.. 
1901). 

»  Rosh  hashanah  19'  . 

3  Midrash  Tanchuma,  Bereshith,  passim  ;    see  JE,   xii,    197. 

*  See  further  the  notes  on  this  passage  in  Kautsch. 


GOD   AND   THE    "  TORAH  "    INSEPARABLE    137 

have  endangered  the  fundamental  Jewish  tenet  of  the 
Unity  of  God.  In  order  to  avoid  this,  it  was  taught  that 
although  the  Torah  existed  before  the  Creation,  it  was 
nevertheless  the  result,  too,  of  an  act  of  creation  on  God's 
part.  The  existence  of  the  Torah  before  the  Creation, 
though  itself  created,  is  taught,  for  example,  in  Bereshith 
rahhah  c.  i  :  "  Six  things  preceded  the  Creation  of  the 
world  ;  among  them  were  such  as  were  themselves  truly 
created,  and  such  as  were  decided  upon  before  the  Creation, 
the  Torah  and  the  throne  of  glory  were  truly  created." 
The  teaching  that  the  Torah  expresses  the  fulness  of  the 
Divine  Mind  is  fully  in  accordance  with  the  idea  that  God 
and  the  Torah  are  inseparable  ;  this  is  illustrated  in  a 
beautiful  little  parable  from  the  Midrash:^ 

It  is  as  though  a  king  had  an  only  daughter  ;  and  one  of 
the  kings  comes  and  marries  her.  He  then  wants  to  return 
to  his  own  country  and  to  take  his  wife  back  with  him. 
Then  the  king  says  to  him  :  "  She  whom  I  have  given  to  thee 
is  my  only  daughter  ;  I  cannot  bear  to  be  separated  from  her  ; 
yet  I  cannot  say  to  thee,  Take  her  not,  for  she  is  thy  wife. 
But  show  me  this  kindness  :  wherever  thou  goest  prepare 
me  a  chamber  that  I  may  dwell  with  you,  for  I  cannot  bear 
to  be  separated  from  my  daughter."  Thus  spake  the  Holy 
One  to  Israel :  "I  gave  you  the  Torah  ;  I  cannot  separate 
myself  from  it  ;  yet  I  cannot  say  to  you,  Take  it  not.  But 
whithersoever  ye  journey  make  Me  a  house  wherein  I  may 
dwell."  For  it  is  said  :  And  let  them  make  me  a  sanctuary 
that  I  may  dwell  among  them  (Exod.   25*). 

The  supreme  importance,  however,  of  the  Torah  hes 
in  the  fact  of  its  being  the  final  revelation  of  God  for  all 
time.  Everything  that  is  needed  for  salvation  is  con- 
tained in  the  Torah,  and  therefore  nothing  can  ever 
supplement  it  ;  it  is  the  expression  of  the  Divine  Will  and 
Purpose  which  holds  good  for  all  eternity.  As  it  existed 
before  the  world  was  created,  so  it  will  continue  to  exist 
after  the  world  has  come  to  an  end,  for  as  it  contains 
God's  revelation  of  Himself  to  man  it  must  of  necessity 
continue  for  ever.     This  lasting  character  of  the  Torah  is 


Weber,  p.  17. 


138    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

referred  to  even  in  the  Apocrypha,  for  in  Baruch  41  we 

read  : — 

She  (i.e.,  Wisdom)  is  the  book  of  God's  commands, 

The  Torah  that  abide th  to  eternity  ; 

All  that  hold  by  her  [shall  attain]  to  life. 

They  that  forsake  her  shall  die. 

So,  too,  in  Wisdom  18*,  there  is  mention  made  of  the 
"  eternal  hght  of  the  Torah."  In  later  writings  we  find 
the  same  thing,  e.g.,  in  Shemoth  rahhah  c.  33  the  Torah  is 
spoken  of  as  being  "  a  possession  for  eternity"  ;  elsewhere 
it  is  said  that  the  Torah  alone  among  all  the  books  of 
Holy  Scripture  will  endure  to  eternity  ;  all  the  other  books 
of  the  Bible  will  disappear,  having  served  their  purpose, 
but  the  Torah  can  never  become  antiquated,  nor  will 
it  ever  become  unnecessary  ;  "  the  Prophets  and  the 
Hagiographa  will  cease,  but  the  five  books  of  Torah  will 
not  cease,"  Megillah,  i,  7. 

Quite  in  accordance  with  this  teaching  that  the  Torah 
is  the  absolute,  final,  and  eternal  revelation  of  God 
Almighty,  is  the  further  teaching  that  it  was  intended  for 
all  mankind.  This  seems,  at  first  sight,  to  run  counter  to 
the  Jewish  contention  that  they  are  the  "  chosen  people," 
the  "  pecuhar  "  treasure  of  God,  and  appears  to  modify  the 
idea  of  their  exclusiveness  ;  but  it  is  not  really  so  ;  indeed, 
what  is  taught  tends  rather  to  emphasize  this  latter,  for 
it  is  said  that,  although  God  originally  intended  His 
Torah  to  be  a  revelation  of  Himself  and  of  His  sovereign 
will  to  all  nations,  yet  that  only  Israel  accepted  it  when  it 
was  given  ;  in  fact,  this  acceptation  of  it  on  the  part  of 
Israel  enhances  the  sense  of  their  superiority  over  all 
other  nations  ;  and  the  "  fence  "  around  the  Law  which, 
in  consequence,  the  teachers  of  the  Law  so  diligently  and 
painfully  erected,  became  a  barrier  between  Israel  and 
the  nations,  and  contributed  still  further  to  the  exclu- 
siveness of  the  Jew.  What  its  confessors  regarded  as  their 
chief  glory  became  in  the  eyes  of  the  non-Jew  a  source  of 
reproach , 


THE   "TORAH"   AND   THE   GOSPEL        139 

II.  Salvation  is  through  the  "  Torah." 
The  true  Jew  is  prepared  to  lose  everything  so  long  as 
he  retains  the  Torah,  for  if  he  has  that  he  has  eternal 
salvation.  In  Pirke  Ahoth  vi,  7  it  is  said  :  "  Great  is 
Torah  which  gives  life  to  those  who  practise  it  in  this 
world  and  in  the  world  to  come."  The  Torah  is  the  source 
of  life,  according  to  Sijre  84''  :  "  As  water  gives  life  to  the 
world,  so  do  the  words  of  the  Torah  give  hfe  to  the  world  "  ; 
by  the  life  which  the  Torah  gives  is  meant  eternal  life. 
So,  too,  in  Shir  rabbah  i,  2  the  Torah  is  compared  to  water  : 
"  As  water  refreshes  the  body  so  does  the  Torah  refresh  the 
soul."  The  thought  in  these  passages  strongly  reminds 
one  of  Jn.  4^* :  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  never  thirst :  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  become  to  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto 
eternal  life.  Perhaps  even  more  striking  in  this  con- 
nexion are  the  words  of  Christ,  as  recorded  by  the  Fourth 
Evangehst,  on  the  last  day  of  the  feast  (7^^) :  //  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  as  the  Scripture  (Isa.  12^) 
hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water. 
Remembering  that  so  much  which  is  preserved  in 
the  Rabbinical  writings  was  traditional  teaching  for 
centuries  before  it  was  reduced  to  writing,  it  is 
scarcely  fanciful  to  see  in  these  words  from  the  Gospel, 
Christ  contrasting  the  real  salvation  which  He  brought 
with  that  which  the  words  of  the  Torah  were  believed 
by  the  Jews  to  bring. 

This  figurative  use  of  water  in  connexion  with  the  Torah 
may  be  paralleled  by  a  similar  use  of  bread,  as  symbohc 
of  the  Torah  in  its  character  of  spiritual  food,  i.e.,  that 
which  sustains  the  life  of  the  soul  unto  eternity  ;  for 
example,  the  words  of  Isa.  3^  the  whole  stay  of  bread,  are 
explained  as  referring  to  the  Torah  [Shabbath  120'') ;  Hkewise 
in  Bereshith  rabbah  70  it  is  said  that  the  proselyte  may 
find  in  Israel  the  "  bread  of  the  Torah."  Here,  again,  we 
are  reminded  of  the  well-known  words  of  Christ,  I  am 
the    bread  of   life  (Jn.  6^^'  *^'  "'  ^^).     In  very  significant 


140    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

contrast  to  what  the  Jews  taught  about  the  Tor  ah  is 
what  Christ  teaches  in  verses  32,  33  of  the  same  chapter  : 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  it  was  not  Moses  (i.e.,  the 
Tor  ah)  that  gave  you  the  bread  out  of  heaven,  but  my  Father 
giveth  you  the  true  bread  out  of  heaven.  For  the  bread  of 
God  is  that  which  cometh  down  out  of  Heaven,  and  giveth 
life  unto  the  world,  (see  also  v.  58).  Obviously  "hfe"  here 
is  "  eternal  hfe,"  just  that  hfe  which,  according  to  Jewish 
teaching,  the  "  bread  of  the  Torah  "  gave. 

Again,  the  Torah  is  said  to  be  hke  wine  ;  as  wine  rejoices 
the  heart  in  a  temporal  sense,  so  the  Torah  rejoices  the 
heart  after  a  spiritual  manner  (see  Shir  rabbah  i,  2).  One 
recalls,  in  this  connexion,  the  words  of  Christ  in  Jn.  15^, 
7  atn  the  true  vine  .  .  .  ;  and  more  especially  Jn.  6^^'  ^« 
.  .  .  My  blood  is  drink  indeed,  and  cf.  Mark  1223-25, 

Once  more,  it  was  taught  that  the  Torah  gives  light  to 
the  spiritual  understanding,  a  light  which  was  the  guide  to 
eternal  hfe  ;  for  example,  the  words  in  Num.  6  ^^,  The 
Lord  make  His  face  to  shine  (ht.  "  give  light ")  upon  thee, 
is  explained  as  meaning  the  hght  of  the  Torah  {Sifre  12^)  ; 
again  in  Debarim  rabbah  c.  7,  we  read  :  "As  oil  gives  light 
to  the  world,  so  too  do  the  words  of  the  Torah  give  hght 
to  the  world."  With  this  we  may  compare,  again,  the 
words  of  Christ  in  Jn.  8^2,  /  am  the  Light  of  the  world  ;  the 
reference  to  the  Torah  a  httle  further  on  in  the  chapter 
(v.  17),  makes  it  very  probable  that  these  words  were 
intended  to  contrast  the  teaching  of  Christ  with  that  of 
official  Judaism  concerning  the  Law  ;  the  same  must 
be  said  of  the  words  of  the  Evangehst  :  There  was  the 
true  light  (i.e.,  not  the  false  hght  of  the  Torah),  even  the 
light  which  lighteth  every  man  coming  into  the  world,  Jn.  P  ; 
here  again,  the  words  gain  in  significance  by  the  refer- 
ence to  the  Law  a  little  further  on  (v.  17)  :  For  the  law  was 
given  by  Moses  ;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Another,  and  from  the  Christian  doctrinal  point  of 
view  exceedingly  important,  way  in  which  the  Torah  is 
seen  to  be  the  means  of  salvation,  is  the  merit  which  is 


EFFICACY   OF   "  TORAH  "-STUDY  141 

imputed  to  those  who  observe  its  decrees  ;  in  fact,  we 
touch  here,  though  but  incidentally,  upon  the  general 
subjects  of  Works,  of  which  the  greatest  is  obedience  to 
the   precepts   of  the  Torah.^ 

We  may  note,  first  of  all,  these  important  words  from 
Pirke  Aboth,  ii,  2  ;  ^  "  Excellent  is  Torah-study  together 
with  worldly  business,  for  the  practice  of  them  puts 
iniquity  out  of  remembrance  ;  and  all  Torah  without 
work  must  fail  at  length,  and  occasion  iniquity.  And 
let  all  who  are  employed  with  the  congregation  act  with 
them  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  for  the  merit  of  their  fathers 
sustains  them,  and  their  righteousness  stands  for  ever. 
And  ye  yourselves  shall  have  reward  reckoned  unto  you  as 
if  ye  had  wrought."  Again,  in  ii,  8  we  have  :  "  He  who 
has  gotten  to  himself  words  of  Torah  has  gotten  to  himself 
the  hfe  of  the  world  to  come."  The  pre-eminent  merit 
of  studying  the  Torah  is  well  brought  out  in  vi,  i  : 
"  Whosoever  is  busied  in  Torah  for  its  own  sake  merits 
many  things  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  he  is  worth  the  whole 
world  ;  he  is  called  friend,  beloved  ;  he  loves  God,  loves 
mankind ;  he  pleases  God,  pleases  mankind."  Once 
more  :  "  Great  is  Torah,  which  gives  life  to  those  who 
practise  it  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to 
come."  Then,  further,  it  is  said,  in  Chagigah  12'', 
that  a  cord  of  grace  is  drawn  in  the  future  world  by  God 
around  those  who  study  the  Torah  ;  in  Genesis  R.  23* 
it  is  said  that  "  the  righteous  have  the  power  to  change 
the  attribute  of  justice  to  the  attribute  of  mercy."  The 
condition  of  righteousness,  however,  is  strict  observance  of 
the  Torah  ;  this  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  rehgion  of 
the  Synagogue.  As  expressive  of  the  high  merit  attach- 
ing to  those  who  study  the  Torah,  it  is  said  in  Shemoth 
rabhah  c.  51  that  death  has  no  power  over  such  ;  as  in  the 
Torah  all  is  contained  that  is  required  both  in  this  world 


1  See  further  the  chapter  on  "The  Jewish  Doctrine  of  Sin," 
ch.  xii.  *  Taylor's  edition,  pp.  28,  29. 


142    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  in  the  world  to  come,  he  that  faithfully  studies  the 
Torah  and  observes  its  precepts  is  doing  all  that  lies  in  his 
power  to  ensure  for  himself  eternal  life  ;  therefore  one  is 
not  surprised  to  read  in  Sifre  40'',  for  example,  that  it  is  the 
Torah  which  leads  men  to  eternal  life  in  the  next  world  ; 
in  other  words,  the  Torah  is  the  medium,  and  its  study  is 
the  condition,  of  immortahty.  It  is  worth  recahing  in 
this  connexion  the  striking  words  in  Jn.  ii''^^ :  Whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die. 

What  must  strike  the  Christian  reader  in  considering 
the  quotations  given  above — and  others  of  a  Hke  nature 
could  be  given  to  almost  any  extent — is  the  fact  that  the 
initative  in  doing  anything  that  is  good  seems  to  he  solely 
with  man  ;  man  is  justified  both  in  his  own  eyes,  and  in 
the  sight  of  God  by  doing  these  "  works  of  the  Law  "  ; 
and  since  salvation  is  through  the  Law  it  follows  logically 
that  the  attainment  of  salvation  is  a  matter  for  man's 
unaided  exertions  ;  this  is  certainly  not  the  teaching  of 
either  Bibhcal,  Apocryphal  or  Pseudepigraphical  litera- 
ture, nor,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  later  section,  would  it  fairly 
represent  the  teaching  of  present-day  Judaism  ;  but  it 
does  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  Rabbinical  teaching 
proper,  at  all  events  as  crystallized  in  the  Talmud  and 
aUied  writings.  We  shall  have  to  return  to  the  subject  of 
"  Works  "  later  on  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  point  out  in  the 
present  connexion  that  it  must  clearly  have  been  the  more 
specific  Rabbinical  teaching  of  which  St.  Paul  was 
thinking  when  he  said,  for  example  :  By  him  every  one 
that  believeth  is  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could 
not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses  (Acts  13^^),  or  when  he 
wrote  :  By  grace  ye  have  been  saved  through  faith  ;  and 
that  not  of  yourselves  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God  ;  not  of  works, 
that  no  man  should  glory  (Eph.  2^"^).  This  Pauline  teaching 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity  as 
expressed,  for  example,  in  such  words  as :  Apart  from 
Me  ye  can  do  nothing  (Jn.  15 5),  or  as  more  elaborately 
set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  labourers  in  the  vineyard 


THE    ^'TORAH''   OBSERVED   BY   GOD     143 

(Matt.  20^"^').  As  we  have  seen.  Rabbinical  teaching  was 
quite  contrary  to  this  ;  according  to  it,  salvation  was 
through  the  Law,  and  the  observance  of  the  Law  or 
Torah  was  purely  a  matter  of  the  individual  will. 

III.  The  Legalistic  Element  in  Jewish  Piety. 

What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  section  receives 
emphasis  in  considering  that  the  essence  of  Jewish  piety 
consisted  in  love  to  the  Torah.  Faith,  Obedience,  Love, 
and  every  virtue,  had  as  their  condition  single-hearted 
observance  of  the  Torah.  All  that  was  done  in  the  way 
of  what  was  right  was  done  in  reference  to  the  Torah  ; 
the  whole  of  man's  relations  with  God  were  conditioned 
by  faithful  adherence  to  the  Torah;  it  was  the  guide  in 
all  things,  heavenly  as  well  as  earthly.  This  is  pointedly 
brought  out  in  St.  Paul's  words  :  so  that  the  Law  has 
been  our  tutor  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we  might  be 
justified  by  faith.  But  now  that  faith  is  come,  we  are  no 
lo7iger  under  a  tutor  (Gal.  3^*'  25) 

The  Rabbis  cited  all  kinds  of  queer  examples  of  how  the 
patriarchs  and  other  heroes  of  old  showed  forth  their  piety 
by  obedience  to  the  Torah  ;  they  were  the  patterns  upon 
which  Jews  of  all  ages  were  required  to  frame  their  manner 
of  life.  For  example,  it  was  said  that  Adam  was  created 
on  the  day  before  the  Sabbath,  in  order  that  he  might 
commence  hfe  by  an  act  of  Tora/i-observance,  viz.,  in 
keeping  the  Sabbath  [Sanhedrin  38'')  ;  again,  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  kept  as  many  Mitzvoth  (i.e.,  "  Com- 
mandments of  the  Law  ")  as  there  are  waves  in  the  sea 
[Sanhedrin  94*^),  a  picturesque  way  of  expressing  "  without 
number."  Such  acts  of  piety  were  done  in  imitation  of 
divine  example,  for  it  was  firmly  believed  that  God 
Almighty  was  both  a  diligent  student  of  the  Torah, 
and  also  Himself  obeyed  its  precepts.  In  Aboda  zarah  3** 
we  read  :  "  There  are  twelve  hours  in  the  day  ;  during  the 
first  three  the  Holy  One  sits  down  and  occupies  Himself 
with  the  Torah  "  ;   even  in  the  Tar  gum  similar  ideas  are 


144    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

entertained,  thus  in  the  Jerusalem  Targum  to  Deut. 
32*,  it  says  :  "  For  three  hours  (daily)  does  He  (God) 
occupy  Himself  with  the  Tor  ah."  Further,  in  Bereshith 
rahhah  c.  49  we  read  that,  according  to  Rabbi  Jehuda, 
"  there  is  no  day  on  which  the  Holy  One  does  not 
announce  a  new  Halakah  to  the  Sanhedrin  above.  And 
just  as  the  Most  High  deeply  meditates  upon  the  mysteries 
of  the  Torah,  so  does  He  also  fulfil  its  precepts."  Once 
more,  in  Shemoth  rahhah  c.  3  we  read  :  "  The  way  of  the 
Holy  One,  Blessed  be  He,  is  not  like  the  way  of  flesh  and 
blood.  He  that  is  of  flesh  and  blood  teaches  others  how 
they  should  act,  but  does  not  do  as  he  teaches.  Not  so  the 
Holy  One,  but  what  He  Himself  does,  that  He  commands 
Israel  to  do  and  observe." 

Clearly  no  piety  could  be  deeper  than  that  which  took 
as  its  pattern  the  acts  of  God  Himself,  and  therefore  ful- 
filling the  legal  enactments  of  the  Mosaic  Law  was  most 
earnestly  striven  after.  But  when  it  is  realized  that  this 
form  of  piety,  this  mere  fulfilling  of  legal  requirements, 
was  per  se  believed  to  justify  man  in  the  sight  of  God, 
then  one  can  understand  better  the  point  of  many  a 
Pauline  saying  on  the  subject  of  the  Law  ;  such  are,  for 
example,  Rom.  3-°  :  By  the  works  of  the  Law  shall  no  flesh 
he  justified ;  52^:  We  reckon,  therefore,  that  a  man  is 
justified  by  faith  apart  from  the  works  of  the  Law  ;  6^*  : 
Ye  are  not  under  Law,  hut  under  grace  ;  cf.  further  7* ; 
8^  ;  9^1  f.  ;  Gal.  2^^  ff.,  3^^  ff.  One  can  easily  understand 
how  repugnant  teaching  of  this  kind  must  have  been  to 
the  Jews  in  St.  Paul's  day  ;  it  fully  accounts  for  the  fierce 
enmity  which  he  encountered  at  their  hands. 

IV.  Israel  the  People  of  the  Law. 

We  have  seen  above  that  the  Torah  was  believed  to  have 
been  offered  to  all  men  originally,  but  that  Israel  alone, 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  accepted  it  {Pesikta 
186*).     It  was  this  fact  that  constituted  the  children  of 


ISRAEL  THE    PEOPLE   OF   THE   LAW     145 

Israel  the  "  Chosen  People  "  of  God.^  The  titles  "  Chosen 
People,"  "  Peculiar  treasure,"  the  "  People  of  God  " 
had  their  raison  d'etre  in  the  fact  that  the  Israelites  were 
the  people  of  the  L^M'.  By  their  acceptance  of  the  divine 
revelation  at  Sinai  the  Israelites  believed  themselves  to  be 
a  holy  nation  in  a  sense  in  which  it  was  impossible  for 
any  other  nation  to  be.  A  relationship  was  here  formed 
which  made  them  in  a  very  special  way  the  "  People  of 
God."  In  the  prophetical  writings  this  relationship 
between  the  nation  of  Israel  and  God  is  likened  to  that  of 
a  wife  and  her  husband  (e.g.,  Hos.  2^,  Isa.  54^ ;  62^).  The 
same  thought  is  found  also  in  Rabbinical  literature  ;  for 
example,  in  Shemoth  rahbah  c.  51,  after  the  nation  has  been 
referred  to  as  Jehovah's  spouse,  it  is  said  that  the  nuptials 
were  celebrated  at  the  giving  of  the  Law  on  Mount  Sinai. 
The  identical  thought,  as  is  well  known,  is  found  in  the 
New  Testament  regarding  Christ  and  His  Church  (Eph. 
^22-32^  Another  way  in  which  the  fact  of  Israel  being  the 
people  of  the  Law  is  emphasized  is  by  describing  them  as 
the  people  of  the  Covenant  ;  the  Old  Testament  teaching 
on  the  Covenant  at  Sinai  is  often  re-echoed  in  later  Jewish 
writings  ;  in  Wayyikra  rabbah  c.  6  we  read  of  the  covenant 
between  God  and  Israel  as  that  between  the  "  God  of  the 
Torah'''  and  the  "people  of  the  Torah.'"  This,  too,  is  a 
thought  which  finds  expression  in  the  New  Testament, 
see  especially  Gal.  3^^"^',  42*,  Heb.  8«  ff. 

The  keeping  of  the  Law  by  the  Israelites  differentiated 
them  from  all  other  nations  of  the  world  ;  and  the  feehng 
of  superiority  over  these  which  resulted  from  this  had  the 
natural  tendency  of  increasing  among  the  Israelites  the 
spirit  of  exclusiveness,  for  the  "holy  nation  "  felt  that 
they  would  become  polluted  if  they  came  into  contact  with 
the  profane  outside  world.  How  this  feehng  was  fostered 
from  the  time  of  Ezra  onwards  we  have  already  seen 


'  Cf.   the  words  of  the  prophet :    You  only  have  I  known  of  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  (Am.   3'). 
II— ;24ir) 


146     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

(ch.  i).  In  post-biblical  Jewish  literature  this  is  well 
expressed  in  Shemoth  rabbah  c.  33,  where  it  is  said  that 
the  Gentiles  may  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Tor  ah, 
because  it  has  been  entrusted  to  Israel  in  the  same  way 
that  a  wife  is  entrusted  to  her  husband.  In  Zebachim  1 16^ 
an  old  tradition  is  preserved,  according  to  which  Balaam 
said  to  the  Gentile  Kings  :  "  Jehovah  has  a  precious 
jewel  in  His  treasure-house,  which  was  held  hidden  for 
nine  hundred  and  seventy-four  generations  before  the 
creation  of  the  world  ;  this  treasure  He  will  give  to  His 
children  (i.e.,  the  IsraeUtes)."  So  that  this  "  treasure  of 
treasures,"  as  the  Torah  is  also  called,  became  the  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  chosen  people  ;  the  Gentiles  having 
once  refused  it,  would  not  understand  it  now,  even  if  it 
were  offered  to  them  ;  therefore  the  Jews  were  forbidden 
to  speak  to  them  about  the  mysteries  of  their  Torah. 
One  is  reminded  of  the  words  in  Matt.  7*  :  Give  not  that 
which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs}  neither  cast  your  pearls  before 
swine,  lest  haply  they  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and 
turn  and  rend  you. 

The  cleavage  which  this  attitude  occasioned  between 
Jew  and  Gentile  was  naturally  very  marked  ;  the  need  of 
it  is  insisted  on  again  and  again  in  Jewish  writings,  nor 
are  signs  of  it  wanting  in  the  Gospels  ;  for  example  in 
Matt.  10^'  '  we  read  :  Go  not  into  any  way  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  enter  not  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans,  but  go  rather 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  or  again  152* :  / 
am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ; 
T  and  152®  have  already  been  referred  to. 

V.  Christ  and  the  Law. 

It  will  not  be  inappropriate  here  to  devote  a  short 

section  to  this  subject.     In  studying  the  attitude  of  Christ 

to  the  Law  as  presented  in  the  Gospels,  it  will  be  noticed 

that  the  evidence  is  of  a  two-fold  character  ;    two  sets  of 


A  word  similar  to  this  is  used  of  the  Gentiles  in  Matt.  is^*. 


CHRIST   AND   THE   LAW  147 

passages  come  before  us  which  seem  to  differ  in  what  they 
tell  us  concerning  Christ  in  His  attitude  towards  the  Law. 
On  the  one  hand,  Christ  recognizes  the  validity  of  the  Law 
and  emphasizes  its  binding  character  ;  this  is  clear  from 
such  passages  as  the  following  :— Matt.  5^''  **,  Think 
not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  :  I  came 
not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfU.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till 
heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in 
no  wise  pass  away  from  the  law,  till  all  things  be  accom- 
plished, cf.  Luke  16".  Again,  Matt,  y^^:  All  things 
therefore  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you, 
even  so  do  ye  also  unto  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets.  Luke  16^9  .  .  .  They  have  Moses  and  the 
prophets  ;  let  them  hear  them  ;  see,  further,  Matt.  5^'  ; 
12^  ;  19^^  ;  233 ;  Luke  lo^s.  Not  only  does  Christ 
thus  emphasize  the  authority  of  the  Law,  but  He  rebukes 
the  Pharisees  for  their  wrong  observance  of  it  ;  Ye  have 
made  void  the  word  '  {law)  of  God  because  of  your  tradition. 
Matt.  15* ;  ...  and  have  left  undo7ie  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law.  .  .  Matt.  23^3.  While  passages  like 
these  show  Christ's  zeal  for  the  Law,  there  are,  on  the 
other  hand,  not  a  few  in  which  Christ  manifests  a  certain 
depreciation  of  it  ;  for  example  the  whole  passage, 
Mk.  2^^"22,  (with  the  parallel  passages  in  Matt,  and  Luke,) 
especially  vv.  21  and  22 :  No  man  seweth  a  piece  of  undressed 
cloth  on  an  old  garment  :  else  that  which  should  fill  it  up 
taketh  from  it,  the  new  from  the  old,  and  a  worse  rent  is  made. 
And  no  man  putteth  new  wine  into  old  wine-skins,  else 
the  wine  will  burst  the  skins,  and  the  wine  perisheth, 
and  the  skins  ;  but  they  put  new  wine  into  fresh  wine-skins. 
Luke  16^^ :  The  law  and  the  prophets  were  until  John  : 
from  that  time  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  is  preached  ;  cf. 
Matt,  gi^ 
These   few  quotations    will  suffice    to  illustrate    this 


'  The  context  shows  that  the  Law  is  referred  to  ;  some  ancient 
authorities  read  latv  instead  of  word. 


148    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

twofold  attitude  towards  the  Law,  which  is  probably  to  be 
explained  by  the  two  following  considerations.  Though, 
in  general,  Christ  recognized  the  validity  of  both  the  letter 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Law,  it  is  clear  that  the  Pharisaic  inter- 
pretation of  the  Law  called  forth  Christ's  condemnation 
as  violating  at  times  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  it. 
In  such  cases  it  was,  therefore,  not  the  Law  that  Christ 
condemned,  but  the  Pharisaic  interpretation  of  it  ;  for 
example.  Matt.  23^^'  ''*,  Woe  unto  you,  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
hyprocrites  ;  for  ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and 
have  left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judg- 
ment and  mercy  and  faith  ;  hut  these  ye  ought  to  have  done, 
and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone.  Ye  blind  guides, 
which  strain  out  the  gnat,  and  swallow  the  camel;  Mark 
y9-i3^  i^w//  well  do  ye  reject  the  commandments  of  God, 
that  ye  may  keep  your  tradition  ....  making  void  the 
word  of  God  by  your  tradition  which  ye  have  delivered. 
See  further.  Matt.  52°;  232-  ^  Luke  11*2-  46,  52_  in 
none  of  these  passages  does  Christ  seem  to  condemn  the 
Law  itself,  but  rather  the  Pharisaic  traditions  which  had 
unwarrantably  added  burdens  to  it  which  it  was  never 
intended  that  men  should  bear. 

But  there  is  a  further  consideration  which  is  worth 
emphasizing.  It  will  not  be  questioned  that  by  degrees 
Christ's  reahzation— as  far  as  His  human  nature  was 
concerned — of  His  mission  on  earth  became  fuller  ;^ 
deeper  and  wider  conceptions  arose  regarding  the  all- 
embracing,  world-wide  character  of  His  Kingdom  on 
earth  ;  that  He  and  His  teaching  would  of  necessity 
transcend  all  limitations  must  have  been  a  conviction 
which  asserted  itself  with  ever-increasing  insistence.  And 
if  this  was  so,  then  He  must  have  recognized  more  and  more 
the  temporary  character  of  the  Law,  and  His  words  in 
Matt.   11^^  Luke  16^^,— The  law  and  the  prophets  were 


1  Cf.    the  words  in  Luke  282,  And  Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom 
and  stature  .  .  . 


THE   ORAL  LAW  149 

until  John  ;  from  that  time  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  preached, — become  very  pregnant  with  meaning  ; 
and  even  such  a  passage  as  Matt.  5^'-  ^^,  which  so  empha- 
sizes the  vahdity  of  the  Law,  may,  in  view  of  the  words 
"  till  all  things  be  accomplished,"  be  really  witnessing  to 
its  temporary  character  ;  for  one  may  take  it  that  the 
"all  things"  refer  to  Christ's  work  on  earth/  Then,  too, 
the  attitude  of  St.  Paul  towards  the  Law,  which  has  not 
infrequently  been  regarded  as  antagonistic  to  Christ's 
example,  is  seen  to  be  based,  in  effect,  upon  the  later 
attitude  of  Christ  Himself  ;  for  if  our  surmise,  mentioned 
above,  be  correct,  it  will  be  abundantly  evident  that,  in 
reality,  Christ  was  equally  anxious  with  St.  Paul  to 
"  break  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition  "  (Eph.  2^*). 

The  Oral  Tradition. 
A  word  must  here  be  added  regarding  the  authority 
of  the  Jewish  Oral  Law.  This  matter  has  an  important 
bearing  on  the  modem  criticism  of  the  Pentateuch  [The 
Torah)  as  affecting  Judaism.  It  might  seem  as  if  the  accept- 
ance of  modern  critical  results  regarding  the  composite 
nature  and  varying  dates  of  the  elements  that  make  up  the 
Pentateuch  must  undermine  the  whole  historical  basis 
on  which  Judaism  is  reared.  But  these  consequences  do 
not  necessarily  follow.  A  Jewish  theory  of  development 
based  upon  the  view  that  the  whole  body  of  tradition  as 
accepted  by  the  Hving  community  —  the  Synagogue  — 
constitutes  the  essence  of  Judaism  has  been  developed. 
Its  most  brilliant  exponents  have  been  Krochmal  (1785- 
1841),  Rappoport  (1790-1867),  and  Zunz  (1794-1886).'^ 
These  scholars  not  only  accepted,  to  a  large  extent, 
the  main  results  of  modern  biblical  criticism,  but  even 
contributed  their  own  share  to  these  ;  they  sought  to 


'  Cf.  John  17*,  /  glorified  Thee  on  the  earth,  having  accom- 
plished the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me  to  do. 

*  See  the  valuable  introductory  essay  in  Schechter's  Studies 
(London,   1896). 


150    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

compensate  for  the  loss  of  the  Bible  as  formerly 
interpreted  by  elevating  the  authority  of  tradition.  And 
Jewish  tradition,  it  need  scarcely  be  added,  is  mainly 
embodied  in  the  Oral  Law,  which  on  the  Rabbinical  view 
is  regarded  as  expressing  the  secondary  meaning  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  origin  of  tradition  in  this  sense  was 
placed  by  Zunz  in  the  Bible  itself,  and  its  continuity  has 
been  unbroken  down  to  the  present  time.  The  voice  of 
God  is  still  heard,  if  no  longer  through  prophets,  yet 
through  the  mouth  of  "  the  scribes,  the  sages,  the  in- 
terpreters, the  Law,"  and  in  the  Synagogue  Liturgy. 
"  Indispensable,"  says  Zunz,  "is  the  free  Spoken  Word. 
Mankind  has  acquired  all  its  ideal  treasures  only  by  Word 
of  Mouth;  an  education  continuing  through  all  stages  of 
life.  In  Israel,  too,  the  Word  of  Instruction  transmitted 
from  mouth  to  mouth  was  never  silenced."  ^ 

All  this  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  Jewish  coun- 
terpart of  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  living  Catholic 
Church ;  and  this  is  explicitly  stated  in  Prof.  Schechter's 
essay.  "  Since  .  .  .  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  or 
the  Secondary  Meaning,  is  mainly  the  product  of 
changing  historical  influences,  it  follows  that  the  centre  of 
authority  is  actually  removed  from  the  Bible,  and  placed 
in  some  living  body  which,  by  reason  of  its  being  in  touch 
with  the  ideal  aspirations  and  religious  needs  of  the  age, 
is  best  able  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  Secondary 
Meaning.  This  living  body,  however,  is  not  represented 
by  any  section  of  the  nation,  or  any  corporate  priesthood, 
or  Rabbi-hood,  but  by  the  collective  conscience  of 
Catholic  Israel,  as  embodied  in  the  universal  synagogue. 
The  Synagogue  '  with  its  long  continuous  cry  after 
God  for  more  than  twenty-three  centuries,'  with  its 
unremittent  activity  and  teaching  and  developing  the 
word  of  God,  with  its  uninterrupted  succession  of 
Prophets,  Psalmists,  Scribes,  Assideans,  Rabbis,  Patriarchs, 


Cited  in  Schechter,  op.  cit.  p.  xx. 


MODERN   VIEWS   ON   THE   ORAL   LAW    LSI 

Interpreters,  Elucidators,  Eminences,  Teachers,  with  its 
glorious  record  of  saints,  martyrs,  sages,  philosophers, 
scholars  and  mystics  ;  this  Synagogue,  the  only  true 
witness  to  the  past,  and  forming  in  all  ages  the  sublimest 
expression  of  Israel's  life,  must  also  retain  its  authority 
as  the  sole  true  guide  to  the  present  and  future."  ^ 

As  illustrating  the  views  of  another  modem  exponent  of 
Jewish  thought,  the  following  passage  is  also  instructive : 
"  We  must  uphold  Truth  as  the  foundation  of  our 
Judaism.  Not  in  a  spirit  of  arrogance  or  contempt  for 
the  ignorance  of  the  past,  but  with  all  humility.  .  .  . 
The  things  we  regard  to-day  as  fictions  were  honestly 
believed  by  our  forefathers  to  be  true  in  their  day, 
and  we  imply  no  pride  or  assumption  of  superiority, 
no  slur  or  censure  on  their  early  historians,  when  their 
statements  are  discredited  by  our  altered  views  due  to 
the  advance  of  human  knowledge.  If  it  be  our  duty 
to  be  honest  and  truthful  to  our  fellow-men,  surely 
it  must  be  no  less  a  duty  to  be  honest  and  truthful  to 
ourselves  and  to  our  conscience.  In  Religion  then, 
seeing  that  God  is  the  God  of  Truth,  Truth  must  have 
precedence  over  all  other  considerations,  and  we  must 
recognize  that  Rehgion  can  only  continue  to  exist  if 
founded  on  Truth  and  Reason."  ^ 

The  views  just  sketched  are,  however,  by  no  means 
universally  shared  by  the  official  exponents  of  present- 
day  Judaism  ;  the  attitude  of  the  orthodox  Synagogue 
is  still  conservative  and  anti-critical,  on  the  whole. 


»  Schechter,  op.  cit.  pp.  xxi  f. 

*  N.  S.  Joseph,  Essentials  of  /w^iatsm  (published  by  the  "  Jewish 
Rehgious  Uaion,"  London,   1906). 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
The  Jewish  Conception  of  God. 

The  Unity  of  God — The  Nature  and  Attributes  of  God — The  Relation 
of  God  to  Israel  and  to  the  World. 

[Literature  : — Weber,  op.  cit.,  pp.  48-65,  148-165  ;  Schechter, 
Some  aspects  of  Rabbinic  Theology  in  JQR  vi,  pp.  405- 
427,  633-647 ;  Jacobs,  Jewish  Ideals,  pp.  24-59 ! 
Friedlander,  The  Jewish  Religion,  pp.  38-46;  Dalman, 
Die  Worie  Jesu,  pp.  75-82;  Bousset,  op.  cit.,  pp.  170  ff., 
291-313,  354  ff;  Morris  Joseph,  op.  cit.,  pp.  51-83. 
Oesterley,  Religion  a  Permanent  Need  of  Human  Nature, 
pp.  27ff;  Holtzmann,  op  cit.,  pp.  353-366;  JE, 
Art.  "  God  "  ;    Abrahams,   Festival  Studies,  pp.  96-102.] 

I.    The  Unity  of  God. 

The  second  article  of  the  Jewish  Creed  runs  :  "I  firmly 
beheve  that  the  Creator,  blessed  be  His  name,  is  One  ; 
that  there  is  no  Oneness  hke  His,  in  any  way,  and  that  He 
alone  was,  is,  and  will  be  our  God."  This  behef  is  based 
upon  the  words  of  Deut.  6'* :  Hear,  0  Israel ;  the  Lord 
our  God,  the  Lord  is  One.  This  behef  was  originally 
asserted  against  the  Polytheism  and  idolatry  of  all  the 
nations  by  whom  the  Israehtes  were  surrounded  ;  I  am 
the  Lord  thy  God,  who  brought  thee  out  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  ;  thou  shalt  have  no 
other  gods  before  me  (Exod.  ao^*  ^)  ;  the  prohibition 
suggests  that  polytheism  prevailed  among  the  Israehtes 
themselves  until  a  comparatively  late  period.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  it  seems  certain  that  the  nation  as  a  whole  had 
from  the  Exile  onwards  adopted  the  behef  in  One  God, 
and  One  only.  According  to  Berachoth  i,  i,  it  was  from 
the  time  of  the  Exile  that  the  daily— morning  and  evening 
— recitation  of  the  Shema'  became  the  solemn  duty  of 
every  Jew.  To  the  present  day  the  unity  of  God  is  a 
behef  to   which  every   true   Jew   bears   witness    on  his 

152 


THE   PERSONALITY   OE  GOD  153 

death-bed,  with  his  last  breath  he  makes  this  confession  of 
his  faith.  It  is  said  that  Rabbi  Akiba,  who  suffered  the 
martyr's  death,  breathed  out  at  the  last  the  word,  "  One," 
in  reference  to  this  behef.  The  intense  importance  laid 
upon  the  frequent  articulate  expression  of  this  truth  led 
to  the  utterance  of  some  bold  statements  regarding  the 
recitation  of  the  Shema',  which  has  always  been  looked 
upon  as  the  embodiment  of  the  doctrine  of  God's  Unity. 
Thus  in  Berachoth  i'^^  it  is  said  :  "  They  cool  the  flames 
of  Gehinnom  (Hell)  for  him  who  reads  the  Shema'  ;" 
again,  in  Berachoth  i,  2  (ed.  Fiebig)  it  is  affirmed  that  to 
him  who  goes  on  reading  the  Shema'  after  the  prescribed 
time  no  harm  will  come. 

As  in  the  Old  Testament,  so  in  post-biblical  literature, 
the  single  personality  of  God  is  frequently  insisted  upon. 
Moreover,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  some  of  the 
books  of  this  literature  anthropomorphisms  are  toned 
down,  in  others  they  are  altogether  avoided  ;  thus,  for 
example,  in  Ecclus.  33^  [English  Version  34^]  :  "  Thy 
hand,"  in  reference  to  God,  is  expressed  in  the  second  half 
of  the  verse  by  "  Thy  power,"  this  being  a  more  abstract 
conception  ;  or  again  in  Wisdom  ii^^  God's  "  arm  "  is 
spoken  of  as  His  "  might,"  in  Bar.  3*  2^*,  God's  "  voice  " 
is  referred  to  as  His  "  will."  In  the  Targums  anthropo- 
moi-phic  expressions  are  put  aside  altogether.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  impossibihty  of  speaking  about  God 
without  using  expressions  which  are  properly  only  applic- 
able to  man,  is  naturally  often  noticeable  when  God's 
action  is  spoken  of  ;  so,  for  example,  in  the  book  of 
Baruch,  God's  eyes,  and  His  ear,  are  spoken  of  (2^^,  ^^)  ; 
in  Wisdom  11'  we  read  :  "  Thy  almighty  hand,  that 
made  the  world  of  matter  without  form  "  ;  in  2  (4) 
Esdras  2^  ff.,  God  is  spoken  of  as  sorrowing  like  a  widow. 
Such  anthropomorphisms  and  the  like  are  inevitable, 
they  are  also  interesting  as  showing  the  intensity  of  the 
belief  in  the  Personality  of  God.  They  increase  very 
greatly  in  Rabbinical  literature,  in  which  insistence  on 


154    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

God's  Unity,  in  the  strictly  Jewish  sense,  was  regarded 
as  far  more  important  than  the  inculcation  of  His  spiritual 
nature.  For  this  reason  it  was  laid  down  {Berachoth  i,  i) 
that  the  Shema'  should  be  recited  every  day  twice  ;  and 
in  the  Talmud  it  was  ordered  that  the  concluding  word, 
'Echad  ("  One  "),  should  be  specially  emphasized  while 
it  was  being  enunciated  by  holding  out  each  syllable 
[Berachoth  19*).  This  word  'Echad  is  understood  not  only 
in  the  sense  of  "One,"  but  also  as  implying  "  uniqueness  " 
when  used  in  reference  to  God  [Megillah  28). ^ 

The  Hebrew  word  for  God  i^Elohim)  which  is  plural 
in  form,  necessarily  exercised  the  minds  of  Israel's  post- 
biblical  teachers,  and  pains  were  taken  to  refute  the 
inference  which  Israel's  enemies  would  naturally  draw. 
It  is  pointed  out  that  the  context  of  the  passages  in  which 
this  word  occurs  contains  verbs  in  the  singular — though 
this  is  really  no  argument  from  a  grammatical  point  of 
view  ; — in  Jer.  Berachoth  ix  it  is  said  that  the  phrase  in 
Gen.  i2«,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  is  proved  by  the 
subsequent  statement  in  verse  27,  So  God  created  man  in 
his  own  image,  to  refer  to  one  God  only.  Other  curious 
arguments  are  used  for  "  proving  "  God's  unity  ;  for 
example,  it  is  said,  that  the  reason  why  in  the  beginning 
one  man  only  was  fashioned  was  to  disprove  the  conten- 
tion of  those  who  believe  in  more  than  one  personality  in 
God  [Sanhedrin  38'*)  ;  God  had  neither  associate  nor 
helper,  according  to  the  same  authority,  38''.  "  The 
ever  recurrent  principle  throughout  haggadic  theological 
speculations  is  that  there  is  only  one  Reshuth, '  personahty,' 
or  '  power.'  "  ^ 

As  far  as  the  Jewish  behef  in  the  Unity  of  God — as 
distinct  from  the  Trinity  in  Unity — is  concerned.  Chris- 
tian and  Jewish  teaching  are  identical  ;  in  Mark  12  ^9 
in  answer  to  the  question,  Which  is  the  first  commandment 


1  JE,  vi,  5. 
*  JE.  vi,  6. 


THE   UNITY  OF  GOD  155 

of  all  ?  Christ  replies  :  The  first  is,  Hear,  0  Israel ;  the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One. 

But  in  Jewish  Rabbinical  literature  this  fundamental 
article  was  sometimes  believed  to  be  impugned  by 
Christian  teaching  concerning  God  ;  we  find,  therefore, 
that  the  truth  of  this  article  is  frequently  insisted 
upon  in  opposition  to  what  was  erroneously  believed 
to  be  a  denial  of  God's  Unity  on  the  part  of  Christians  ; 
thus,  for  instance,  in  Koheleth  Rahhah  to  iv,  8  it  is 
said  :  "  He  is  One,  there  are  not  two  (i.e..  Father  and 
Son)  ;  He  is  One,  that  is,  the  Holy  One,  Blessed  be 
He  ;  for  it  is  said  of  Him,  '  Jehovah  our  God  is  One 
Jehovah,'  and  not  two,  for  He  has  none  that  is  related  to 
Him  in  His  world,  He  has  no  son,  no  brother"  ;  or  again, 
in  Bemidbar  rabbah  c.  15  there  is  a  warning  against 
those  who  teach  that  there  are  two  divine  Persons  in 
the  world  ;  or,  once  more,  in  order  to  get  over  the  diffi- 
culty of  Psalm  2^^,  Kiss  the  Son  lest  He  be  angry,  it  is 
said  {Ibid  c.  10)  that  "  son  "  means  Torah ;  cf.,  too,  the 
passage  Sanhedrin  38'',  quoted  above. 

But  real,  formal  proofs — other  than  such  incidental 
attempts  referred  to  above — of  the  Unity  of  God  are  not 
met  with  in  the  Rabbinical  hterature  proper  ;  it  was 
unnecessary,  for  a  fact  which  was  regarded  as  so  funda- 
mental, as  so  axiomatic,  was  not  believed  to  require — was 
not  conceived  of  as  even  permitting  of  formal  proof  ; 
besides  which,  every  Jew  in  those  days  believed  firmly 
that  the  doctrine  of  God's  Unity  had  been  once  and  for 
all  declared  to  his  forefathers  by  a  direct  act  of  divine 
revelation — a  thing  which  is  not  believed  by  all  modern 
Jews  to  have  been  the  case.  Therefore,  the  fact  is  always 
taken  for  granted,  and  is  put  forth  as  the  foundation- 
stone  on  which  the   Jewish  faith  is  reared. 

But  in  later  days,  owing  in  great  measure  to  the  influence 
of  the  speculations  of  Arabian  philosophers,  pantheistic 
ideas  concerning  the  Godhead  arose.  Among  some  of  the 
leading  Jewish  teachers  doctrines  were  held  which  seemed 


156    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  impair  the  reality  of  the  divine  personality.  For  example, 
although  it  is  clearly  impossible  to  conceive  of  personality 
without  imputing  attributes,  yet  Saadya  taught  that 
no  attribute  could  in  strict  construction  be  ascribed  to 
God.  "  God  has  created  the  concept  '  attribute  '  ;  but 
created  things  cannot  belong  to  the  essence  of  the  Creator. 
Man  may  only  predicate  God's  existence  [Yeshuth)." 
In  the  same  way  Solomon  Ibn  Gabirol  was  the  exponent 
of  a  system  "  bordering  on  theosophy,  certainly  approach- 
ing obscurity  and  the  mystic  ehmination  of  individu- 
ality in  favour  of  an  all-encompassing  all-Divinity 
(Pantheism)."  ^ 

This  is  the  logical  outcome  of  the  Jewish  definition  of 
God  by  negations.  But  teaching  of  this  kind,  although 
undertaken  in  conscious  opposition  to  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  the  Triune  Godhead,  constituted  a  new  danger  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  therefore  necessitated  a  re- 
statement of  Jewish  belief  on  the  subject ;  so  that  attempts 
at  a  formal  proof  of  the  Unity  of  God  were  now  put  forth. 
The  first  of  the  later  writers  who  endeavoured  to  formu- 
late a  proof  of  this  kind  is  Bachya,  in  his  work  Choboth 
ha-Lehahoth ;  he  is  followed  by  Jehudah  Halevi,  who  in  his 
"  Kuzari  "  follows  something  of  the  same  line  of  argument. 
The  arguments  set  forth  are  certainly  ingenious  at  times  ; 
the  following  may  serve  as  an  example  :  "  The  Unity  of 
God  is  involved  in  the  very  conception  of  Him.  If 
there  were  more  gods  than  one,  this  dilemma  would  be 
presented  : — 

[a)  These  many  gods  are  of  one  essence  ;  then,  according 
to  the  law  of  absolute  identity,  they  are  identical,  and 
therefore  only  one  ; — or, 

{h)  These  gods  are  differentiated  by  differences  of 
essential  qualities  ;  then  they  are  not  gods  ;  for  God,  to 
be  God,  must  be  absolute  and  simple  (non-composite) 
being."  2    The  argument  does  not  run  quite  logically,  but 

1  JE  vi,  9,   10.  *  JE  vi,  II. 


MAIMONIDES   ON   THE   UNITY   OF   GOD     157 

it  is  clever,  and  was  evidently  acceptable  in  Halcvi's  day 
among  his  own  people.  Somewhat  jejune,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  following  :  "  The  harmony  and  concordance 
prevailing  in  creation  necessitate  the  apprehension  of 
the  world  as  the  work  of  one  artist  and  creator.  Without 
a  creator  there  could  be  no  creation.  Thus  reason  and 
logic  compel  the  assumption  of  a  creator  ;  but  to  assume 
more  than  one  creator  is  irrational  and  illogical."  ^ 
More  striking  is  the  reasoning  of  Maimonideson  the  subject, 
as  developed  in  his  Moreh  Nebukim  ("  Guide  to  the 
Perplexed  "),  though  it  is  easy  to  see  that  not  all  his 
statements  can  have  been  acceptable  in  Jewish  orthodox 
circles.  According  to  him,  "  philosophy  recognizes  the 
existence  and  perfection  of  God.  God's  existence  is  proved 
by  the  world,  the  effect,  whence  he  draws  the  inference  of 
God's  existence,  the  cause.  The  whole  Universe  is  only 
one  individual,  the  parts  of  which  are  interdependent. 
The  sublunar  world  is  dependent  upon  the  forces 
proceeding  from  the  spheres,  so  that  the  Universe  is  a 
macrocosm  {Moreh,  ii,  i),and  thus  the  effect  of  one  cause. 
Two  gods  or  causes  cannot  be  assumed,  for  they  would 
have  to  be  distinct  in  their  community  ;  but  God  is 
absolute  ;  therefore  He  cannot  be  composite.  The 
corporeal  alone  is  numerical.  God  as  incorporeal  cannot 
be  a  multiple.  But  may  God  be  said  to  be  one  ?  Unity 
is  accidence,  as  is  multiphcity.  '  God  is  One,'  connotes  a 
negative,  i.e.,  God  is  not  many.  Of  God  it  is  possible 
only  to  say  that  He  is,  but  not  what  He  is.  All  attri- 
butes have  a  negative  implication,  even  existence.  .  .  All 
that  is,  save  God,  is  only  of  possible  existence  ;  but  God 
is  the  necessarily  existent  {Moreh,  i,  57).  In  Him  there 
is  no  distinction  between  essence  and  existence,  which 
distinction  is  in  all  other  existing  beings.  For  this 
reason  God  is  incorporeal,  One,  exalted  above  space  and 
time,  and  most  perfect  {Moreh,  ii.  Preface,  18,  21,  23,  24)."  ^ 

1  /£  vi,  II.        '  Ibid. 


158    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Subtle  and  ingenious  as  arguments  of  this  kind  were, 
it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  they  were  not  likely  to 
convince  unbehevers  ;  nor  is  it  probable  that  they  influ- 
enced the  people  at  large  ;  what  was  required,  and  what 
must  always  be  vastly  more  acceptable  to  the  masses  is  a 
definite  statement  of  belief,  clear  and  concise.  The 
doctrine  of  the  Unity  of  God,  according  to  its  Jewish 
presentation,  could  hardly  be  more  adequately  and 
beautifully  expressed  than  in  the  opening  act  of  praise 
for  the  daily  Morning  Service  of  the  Synagogue  : 

"  Magnified  and  praised  be  the  living  God.  He  is,  and 
there  is  no  Hmit  in  time  unto  His  being.  He  is  One,  and  there 
is  no  Unity  Uke  unto  His  Unity  ;  inconceivable  is  He,  and 
unending  in  His  Unity.  He  hath  neither  bodily  form  nor 
substance :  we  can  compare  nought  unto  Him  in  His  holi- 
ness. He  was  before  anything  that  hath  been  created,  even 
the  first  ;    but  His  existence  had  no  beginning." 

II.  The  Nature  and  Attributes  of  God. 
In  this  and  the  following  section  we  have  to  deal  with 
a  subject  upon  which  acute  differences  have  existed,  and 
do  exist,  between  Jewish  and  Christian  theologians  ; 
we  cannot  help  feeling,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  latter 
have  not  always  treated  the  subject  in  the  way  that  a 
greater  knowledge  of  the  facts  would  have  demanded  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  Jewish  theologians  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
acknowledge  sufficiently  what  may  be  called  the  "  extenu- 
ating circumstances  "  which  have  led  Christian  writers 
to  lay  undue  stress  on  one  side  of  the  question.  There 
is  a  very  great  deal  in  post-biblical,  and  especially  in 
Rabbinical  Hterature,  to  justify  what  Christian  theologians 
have  written  regarding  the  Jewish  behef  in  God  ;  there 
is  also  a  very  great  deal  in  those  writings  to  show  that 
the  Christian  representation  of  the  case  is  only  partial. 
Prof.  Schechter  writes  :  "  According  to  what  we  are 
told  by  so  many  theologians,  God  must  be  too  far,  the 

*  Singer,  p.  2. 


JUDAISM    VERSUS    PANTHEISM  159 

King  of  the  Universe,  too  cosmopolitan,  and  the  Father 
in  heaven  too  high  for  the  mind  of  the  Jew,  and  thus  an 
impossible  object  for  worship."  ^  It  is  impossible  not  to 
feel  sympathy  with  this  complaint  ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  will  be  seen  later  on  that  it  is  not  without  some 
grounds  that  Christian  theologians  have  written  as  they 
have  ;  where  legitimate  fault  may  be  found  with  them  is 
in  the  fact  that  too  much  stress  is  laid  on  one  aspect  of 
the  question,  while  the  other  is  more  or  less  ignored  ; 
that  is  to  say,  too  much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  the 
transcendentalism  of  God,  as  presented  in  Jewish  writings, 
while  His  Fatherhood  and  loving  mercy,  His  interest  in 
His  people  and  His  guiding  of  them — as  hkewise  presented 
in  Jewish  writings — has  for  the  most  part  been  ignored. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  Jewish  writings  cover  long 
periods  of  time,  reflect  varying  conceptions  and  beUefs, 
sometimes  of  individuals,  sometimes  more  general!}',  and 
preserve  the  echoes  of  controversies  in  which  the  desire 
to  refute  an  adversary  often  involves  the  utterance  of 
statements  which  in  their  exaggeration  run  into  another 
extreme. 

We  are  therefore  convinced  that  the  only  fair  way  to 
treat  this  subject  is  to  present,  as  far  as  possible,  all  the 
elements  for  consideration. 

Judaism  rightly  teaches,  in  contra-distinction  to 
Pantheism,  that  while  God  is  the  Creator  and  Sustainer 
of  the  world  and  the  fulness  thereof,  while  He  is  in  the 
world  as  being  omnipresent,  yet  that  God  and  the  world 
are  wholly  distinct.  According  to  one  aspect  of  Jewish 
teaching  on  this  subject,  the  belief  in  the  absolute 
distinctness  of  God  from  the  world  was  pushed  to  such 
extremes  that  His  direct  action  and  interference  with 
the  world  of  His  own  creation  became  to  a  great  extent 
obscured,  and  His  activity,  so  far  as  humanity  was 
concerned,  was   said    to    be   accomphshed  by  means  of 

*  Some  Aspects  of  Rabbinic  Theology,  JQR,  vi,  418. 


160     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

intermediate  agencies.  ^  This  teaching  owed  its  origin  to 
the  Jewish  conception  of  God's  transcendent  Righteousness 
and  Holiness.  This  is  insisted  on  with  great  urgency  and 
frequency ;  it  is  of  course  based  on  Old  Testament  teach- 
ing, but  it  occurs  also  again  and  again  in  Apocryphal  and 
Pseudepigraphic  literature,  e.g.,  in  the  prayer  of  the 
High-Priest  Simon  II  (3  Mace.  2^  ff.)  God  is  addressed 
as  the  "  All-holy  "  ;  in  Bar.  i^^  2«  we  read  of 
"  righteousness  belonging  unto  God  "  ;  in  Wisdom  5^ 
righteousness  is  spoken  of  as  "  God's  Breastplate  "  ; 
in  12^^  we  read  :  "  Forasmuch  as  thou  art  righteous 
thyself,  thou  orderest  all  things  righteously  "  ;  in  the 
Book  of  Jubilees  21*,  it  says  :  "  A  Uving  God  is  He,  and 
holy  is  He,  and  true  and  righteous  more  than  any 
other  "  ;  and  in  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  I0^  "  Righteous 
and  holy  is  the  Lord  "  ;  in  the  Book  of  Enoch  the 
thought  occurs  very  often,  e.g.,  i^  ;  lo^  ;  153  ;  25^,  etc. 
And  the  same  goes  on  all  through  Jewish  Hterature,  until 
we  come  down  to  the  modern  Jewish  Liturgy,  where  the 
frequency  of  the  phrase,  "  The  Holy  One,  Blessed  be 
He,"   eloquently  expresses  the  same  idea. 

One,  therefore,  so  pure  and  holy  and  majestic,  could  not 
fittingly  be  thought  of  as  having  direct  intercourse  with 
man.  This  is  further  illustrated  by  the  sanctity  of  God's 
name,  which  was  not  permitted  to  be  pronounced  by  the 
lips  of  men  ;  for  by  a  natural  transition  the  hoHness  of 
?God  was  also  conceived  of  as  attaching  to  His  name,  so 
that  the  articulation  of  the  name  of  God  came  to  be 
absolutely  forbidden.  This  process  can  be  seen  at  work 
in  the  Old  Testament,  where  in  some  of  the  later  books 
the  name  of  God,  i.e.,  Jahweh,  is  mostly  avoided  ;  thus 
in  Esther  2  and  Ecclesiastes  it  is  never  mentioned,  in  Job 


1  See  chap.  ix. 

»  In  this  book  God  Himself  is  never  mentioned  ;  the  same  is 
true  of  I  Mace,  where  the  expression  "  Heaven  "  is  often  used 
instead,  e.g.,  4^",",",  etc.,  the  English  Version  inserts  "  Lord  "  in 
several  cases,  but  without  textual  justification.  Cf.  in  Matt,  the 
frequent  expression  "  Kingdom  of  Heaven  "for  "  Kingdom  of  God." 


THE   MAJESTY   OF  GOD  161 

only  in  two  passages.  Moreover,  as  is  well  known,  in 
order  to  avoid  pronouncing  the  name  of  "  Jahweh," 
the  Massoretes  have  everywhere  altered  the  vowel-points, 
inserting  instead  those  of  "  Lord  "  [Adonai),  or  of  "  God  " 
(Elohim)  if  "  Jahweh  the  Lord  "  was  written  in  the  text. 
In  early  post-biblical  times  this  name  was  never  mentioned 
excepting  when  the  Blessing,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  was 
given  in  the  Temple.^  Various  expedients  were  resorted 
to  in  order  to  avoid  expressing  the  words  "  Jahweh," 
and  even  "  God  "  ;  thus,  as  a  substitute,  "  The  Highest  " 
occurs  with  great  frequency,  so  too  "  The  Immortal," 
"  Heaven,"  "  The  Blessed  One,"  "  The  Holy  One,"  and 
others  of  a  like  nature.  Then,  again,  the  expression  ^ 
"  King  of  the  World,"  for  God,  is  often  met  with.  In 
Talmudic  literature  this  is  frequently  the  way  in  which 
God  is  spoken  of  in  parables  ;  in  these  the  thought  of 
God's  Majesty  and  Holiness,  which  the  title  is  intended  to 
express,  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  man  is  always 
represented  as  merely  a  material,  not  also  a  spiritual, 
being  ;  for  as  Weber  has  pointed  out,^  in  the  parables  in 
question  man  is  usually  spoken  of  as  flesh  and  blood,  i.e.,  as 
that  which  is  transient  and  destructible,  in  contrast  to  the 
eternal  King;  3  cf.  Matt.  i6i';  Jn.  i^^;  iCor.  15^";  Gal.  i^^ 
These  considerations  all  point  to  the  conception  that 
God  is  far  removed  from  men  and  the  world  of  His  crea- 
tion, and  that  His  Hohness  and  Majesty  forbid  conceiving 
of  Him  as  coming  into  direct  contact  with  humanity.  This 
is,  however,  only  half  the  truth  ;  there  is  another  side  to 
the  Jewish  conception  of  God  which  must  be  balanced 
against  what  has  been  said  above.  And  here  we  cannot 
do  better  than  quote  the  words  of  one  who  is  probably 
better  qualified  to  write  on  the  subject  than  any  one 
else  :  *  "  To  the  Rabbis  God  is  not  only  the  Creator  of  the 


»  Sotah,  vii,  6.     Jotna,  vi,  2.     Sanhedrin,  x,  i. 
»  Weber,  op.  cit.  p.  149.  3  Pesikta,  sd^. 

*  Schechter,  op.  cit.  pp.420  ff.,  where  all  references  to  the  original 
authorities  are  given. 
12— (2417) 


162     SYNAGOCxUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

world,  or  '  he  who  spake  and  the  world  existed,'  but  also 
the  Father  of  the  World,  the  goodness  (or  the  good  one) 
of  the  world,  the  Hfe  of  the  world,  the  eye  of  the  world,  the 
secret  of  the  world,  the  only  one  of  the  world,  the  old  one 
of  the  world,  the  righteous  one  of  the  world,  the  master 
or  lord  of  the  world,  and  the  space  [makom]  of  the  world, 
whilst  in  another  place  it  is  said  of  the  divine  presence 
that  his  chief  dwelling  is  among  those  below.  It  is  only 
sin  which  causes  his  removal  to  the  upper  regions.  He  is 
also  compared  by  a  Rabbi  to  the  soul  '  filhng  the  whole 
world,  as  the  soul  fills  the  body.'  ....  '  Thou  art  the 
Lord  our  God,'  runs  an  ancient  prayer,  which  is  still 
recited  every  day,  '  in  heaven  and  on  earth  and  in  the 
highest  heavens  of  heavens.'  .  .  .  Nor  does  '  height,' 
even  if  we  do  not  take  it  metaphorically,  imply  remoteness 
of  God,  or  any  interruption  in  his  communion  with  man. 
Notwithstanding  all  distance,  '  God  is  near  in  every  kind 
of  nearness.'  For  though  the  distance  between  heaven 
and  earth  is  so  infinitely  great,  yet  '  when  a  man  comes 
to  the  synagogue  and  prays,  God  listens  to  him,  for  the 
petitioner  is  Hke  a  man  who  talks  into  the  ear  of  his  friend.' 
Directly  a  man  has  a  thought  of  repentance,  it  instantly 
reaches  the  throne  of  God.  The  fact  is,  that  the  nearness 
of  God  is  determined  by  the  conduct  of  man,  and  by  his 
reaHzation  of  this  nearness,  that  is,  by  his  knowledge  of 
God."  Again  :  "  To  the  Jew,  God  was  at  one  and  the 
same  time  above,  beyond,  and  within  the  world,  its  soul 
and  its  life."  ^ 

There  is  yet  another  element  which  must  be  briefly 
referred  to  ;  in  their  desire  to  emphasize  the  nearness  of 
God  to  man,  and  His  interest  in  all  that  concerned  man, 
and  in  their  eagerness  to  balance  those  transcendental 
conceptions  of  God  already  referred  to,  the  Rabbis  were 
sometimes  led  into  an  extreme  of  the  opposite  kind,  and 
said    things   about   God   which   to  our  ears  border  on 

1  Schechter,  op.  cit.  p.  633,  where  all  references  to  the  original 
authorities  are  given. 


GOD   AND   THE  "  TORAH  "  163 

irreverence.  It  is  mainly  in  connexion  with  the  Torah  that 
these  things  are  said,  and  though,  strictly  speaking,  the 
references  now  to  be  given  belong  to  the  Chapter  on  the 
Tora^,  yet  as  they  touch  directly  on  the  Personality  of  God, 
they  will  not  be  inappropriate  here.  Reverence  for  the 
Torah,  as  we  have  already  seen,  almost  rivalled  that  for 
God  Himself,  so  that  it  was  a  natural  consequence  that  the 
Divine  thoughts,  desires  and  actions  should  have  been 
conceived  of  as  being  to  a  great  extent  bound  up  with  the 
Torah.  Thus  God's  whole  life  and  activity  are  represented 
as  being  regulated  by  it  ;  it  is  said  that  He  is  subject  to 
the  authoritative  decisions  of  the  Rabbis  concerning  the 
precepts  of  the  Torah  {Sanhedrin  39")  ;  according  to 
Berachoth  6*,  7",  God  wears  phylacteries  and  the  Praying- 
shawl  ^  when  He  prays  ;  once,  it  is  said,  the  angels  asked 
God  when  Rosh  ha-shanah  (i.e.,  "  New  Year's  Day  ")  and 
Yom  Kippur  (i.e.,  "  The  Day  of  Atonement  ")  were  to  be 
observed  in  heaven  ;  He  referred  them  to  the  use  which 
obtains  on  earth,  where  they  were,  of  course,  kept  in 
accordance  with  the  ordinances  of  the  Torah  {Pesikta 
53^.  54")-  Much  more  to  the  same  effect  could  be  quoted, 
but  it  is  unnecessary.  It  was  in  such  ways  as  these  tliat 
the  Rabbis  sought  to  make  God's  nearness  more  real ; 
they  were  practical,  rather  than  speculative  ideas  of  God, 
and  if  the  language  savours  of  exaggeration  to  Westerns, 
it  is  only  fair  to  remember  that  to  Oriental  ears 
exaggeration  is  the  normal  way  of  expressing  things. 

III.    The  Relation  of  God  to   Israel   and  to 
THE  World. 

It  is  impossible  to  separate  altogether  the  Jewish 
conception  of  God  from  Jewish  ideas  concerning  the 
Torah  ;  one  may  almost  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  two 
ideas  are  inter-dependent.  The  Torah,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  is  the  embodiment  of  the  Divine  mind  as  revealed 


See  on  these  ch.  xxi. 


164     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  men  ;  and  only  in  so  far  as  men  observe  the  Torah  will 
God  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  As  the  Torah  is  the 
final  expression  of  the  Divine  will  and  purpose,  Jewish 
ideas  of  God  must  obviously  to  a  great  extent  be  guided 
and  conditioned  by  it.  If  the  Torah  mirrors  God's  "  way 
of  thinking,"  then  in  it  men  will  search  for  a  knowledge 
of  God,  His  Person,  attributes,  and  the  like.  And  this 
is  the  case  with  the  Rabbinical  teaching.  As  has  been 
already  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  chapter,  the  Torah, 
although  believed  to  have  been  offered  to  all  the  world, 
was  yet  only  accepted  by  Israel — by  Israel  alone ;  the 
Israelites  alone  placed  themselves  under  its  guidance  as 
expressive  of  the  will  of  God.  Therefore,  Israel  became 
specifically  the  people  of  God,  His  "  Pecuhar  People  " 
{'am  segullah),  the  "  Chosen  race."  ^  While  this  is  the 
most  characteristic  view  held  by  the  Jews  regarding 
God's  relationship  to  them,  yet  its  narrowness  in  face  of 
their  exalted  conceptions  regarding  His  PersonaHty 
impelled  them  often  to  recognize  that  the  Divine  interest 
in  Creation  was  of  a  wider  character  ;  hence  we  find  many 
passages  which  speak  of  God  as  One  whose  concern  is  with 
all  men.  Each  of  these  ideas  may  be  illustrated  by  a  few 
references.  For  the  more  usual  view  that,  generally 
speaking,  God  is  conceived  of  as  the  God  of  Israel  alone 
or  at  least  primarily  so,  the  following  passages  will  be 
found  instructive  :  Ecclus.  17^',  "  He  set  a  prince  over 
every  nation,  but  the  portion  which  God  appointed  for 
Himself  was  Israel  "  ;  47^^  "  By  the  name  of  the  Lord 
God,  that  is  called  the  God  of  Israel,"  ^ ;  5022,  "  Praise  ye 
now,  therefore,  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel,"  ^  see  also 
331-13^  3616-22  .  Wisdom  1922,  "  For  in  all  tilings,  O 
Lord,  thou  didst  magnify  thy  people,  and  glorify  them, 

1  Cf.  Rashi  on  Gen.   ii. 

«  Or,  according  to  a  more  correct  reading,  "  By  the  name  of 
the  Lord  God  that  is  called  over  Israel,"  see  Kautsch  in  loc. 

*  This  seems  to  be  the  most  correct  reading,  see  Kautsch  in 
loc. 


ISRAEL   AND   GOD  165 

neither  didst  thou  lightly  regard  them,  but  didst  assist 
them  in  every  time  and  place  "  ;  in  2  Mace.  8^*  it  says 
that  "  God  fights  for  the  Jews,  and  the  Jews  are  therefore 
invulnerable,  because  they  obey  the  commands  that  He 
has  laid  upon  them."  Turning  to  the  later  literature,  we 
find  the  same  thought  frequently  emphasized  ;  thus  in 
Shcmoth  rabbahc.  49  the  relationship  between  God  and  Israel 
is  represented  as  that  between  husband  and  wife  ;  ^  an 
inseparable  bond  in  this  sense  was  initiated  at  the  giving 
of  the  Law  on  Mount  Sinai.  In  the  same  passage  it  goes 
on  to  say  that  "  if  all  peoples  united  in  seeking  to  snap  the 
bond  of  love  that  exists  between  Jehovah  and  Israel,  they 
would  not  be  able  to  succeed."  Wayytkra  rabbah  c.  6 
tells  of  the  covenant  made  on  Mount  Sinai,  between  God 
and  His  people,  which  neither  will  violate  (cf.  Gal.  s^**, 
4^*).  In  Mekilta  46^*,  47*  it  says :  "  Whosoever  lifts 
himself  up  against  Israel,  shall  be  regarded  as  having 
lifted  himself  up  against  God  "  ;  in  the  same  tractate, 
35*,  Israel  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  congregation  of  holy  ones," 
in  contradistinction  to  the  nations  of  the  world  ;  and  this 
holiness  can  never  be  obliterated,  even  if  Israel  sins,  for 
according  to  Wayyikra  rabbah  c.  24,  God  has  given  holiness 
to  Israel  for  an  everlasting  possession.  Again,  it  is  said  in 
Pesikta  y6^,  that  on  three  occasions  God  was  going  to 
bring  Israel  to  account,  but  each  time  He  desisted  because 
the  Gentiles  were  going  to  gloat  over  it,  and  He  did  not 
wish  to  shame  His  people  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen. 
A  rather  striking  way  of  expressing  the  special  relation- 
ship that  exists  between  God  and  Israel  is  contained  in 
Pesikta  rabbati  146",  where  it  is  said  that  God  only  forgets 
the  bad  deeds  of  the  Israelites,  not  the  good  ones.'* 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  more  worthy  conceptions 
regarding  the  Divine  interest  in  the  whole  of  His  creation 

■  Cf.  Christ  and  His  bride,  the  Church  (Eph.  5»»,  «-»)  ; 
here  the  Church  corresponds  to  "  the  Congregation  of  Israel  " 
(Keneseth  Israel). 

*  See  further  Schcchter  op.  cit.  pp.  634-638. 


166    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

are  not  infrequently  expressed  ;  the  book  of  Wisdom 
often  lays  stress  on  this,  see  especially  1122-26  •  131-7  ; 
a  very  striking  passage  is  Ecclus.  lo^^,  "  Of  what  kind 
is  an  honourable  seed  ?  A  seed  of  man.  Of  what  kind 
is  an  honourable  seed  ?  They  that  fear  the  Lord.  Of 
what  kind  is  a  seed  without  honour  ?  A  seed  of  man. 
Of  what  kind  is  a  seed  without  honour  ?  They  that 
transgress  the  commandments."  ^  The  general  applica- 
tion of  this  catechetical  verse  shows  clearly  that  no 
differentiation  is  contemplated  between  Jew  and  Gentile. 
The  long  passage  in  the  same  book,  17^"^^,  is  in  the  same 
sense,  viz.,  that  all  men,  being  created  in  God's  image, 
alike  share  His  interest  and  love  ;  the  last  verse  in  this 
passage  admirably  sums  up  the  underlying  thought 
throughout  :  "  The  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  upon  all  flesh." 
Nor  is  this  wider  outlook  altogether  wanting  in  the  later 
Rabbinical  literature  ;  for  example,  Sifre,  Deut.  40  :  "  God 
does  not  provide  for  Israel  alone,  but  for  all  men."  To 
quote  Schechter  again  :  "  ...  A  God  *  who  had  faith  in 
the  world  when  He  created  it,'  ^  who  mourned  over  its 
moral  decay,  which  compelled  him  to  punish  it  with  the 
deluge,  as  a  father  mourns  over  the  death  of  his  son,  and 
who,  but  for  their  sins,  longed  to  make  his  abode  among 
its  inhabitants,  is  not  to  be  supposed  to  have  entirely 
given  up  all  relations  with  the  great  majority  of  mankind, 
or  to  have  ceased  to  take  any  concern  in  their  well-being. 
'  Though  his  goodness,  loving-kindness  and  mercy  are 
with  Israel,  his  right  hand  is  always  stretched  forward  to 
receive  all  those  who  come  into  the  world,  ...  as  it  is 
said.  Unto  me  every  knee  shall  how,  every  tongue  shall 
swear  '  (Isa.  45^^).  For  this  confession  from  the  Gentiles 
'  the  Holy  One  is  waiting.'  "^  Again,  the  words  of  Exod. 
3423,   The    Lord  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  are  explained  by 


1  The  English  Version  is  unrehable  in  this  passage,  see  Swete's 
text  (Cambridge,   1896). 

2  Sifre,  i32'\         »  Schechter  0/?.  «/.  p.  638. 


GOD   AND   THE   GENTILES  167 

the  Rabbis  "  to  indicate  the  double  relation  of  God  to  the 
world  in  general,  and  to  Israel  in  particular.  He  is  the 
Lord  of  all  nations,  while  His  name  is  especially  attached 
to  Israel.^  Of  more  importance  is  the  interpretation  given 
to  Deut.  6^  Hear,  0  Israel,  etc.  (the  Shema'),  which  runs 
as  follows  :— '  He  is  our  God  by  making  his  name  particu- 
larly attached  to  us  ;  but  he  is  also  the  one  God  of  all 
mankind.  He  is  our  God  in  this  world,  he  will  be  the  only 
God  in  the  world  to  come,  as  it  is  said.  And  the  Lord  shall 
be  King  over  all  the  earth  ;  in  that  day  there  shall  he  one 
Lord  and  his  name  one  '  (Zech.  i^^)^  For,  '  in  this 
world,  the  creatures,  through  the  insinuations  of  the  evil 
inclination,  have  divided  themselves  into  various  tongues, 
but  in  the  world  to  come  they  will  agree  with  one  consent 
to  call  only  on  his  name,  as  it  is  said,  For  them  will  I  turn 
to  the  people  a  pure  language,  that  they  may  all  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  to  serve  Him  with  one  consent  '  (Zeph. 
39).  Thus  the  Shenia'  not  only  contains  a  metaphysical 
statement  (about  the  unity  of  God),  but  expresses  a  hope 
and  belief— for  everything  connected  with  this  verse  has 
a  certain  dogmatic  value— in  the  ultimate  universal 
Kingdom  of  God."  ^ 

This  two-fold  conception  of  God's  attitude  to  man 
dates  back  to  Old  Testament  times.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  during  the  prophetical  period  and  onwards 
the  Israelites  had  much  justification  for  the  behef  that 
they  were  the  favourites  of  Heaven.  The  purity  of  their 
faith,  as  expressed  by  prophet  and  psalmist,  their  moral 
code,  and  their  rehgious  literature,  marked  them  out  as 
being,  from  a  rehgious  point  of  view,  superior  to'the  nations 
of  the  world.  Their  conception  of  God,  as  pictured  in 
the  later  biblical  books,  was  immeasurably  higher  than 
the  beliefs  of  the  nations  concerning  their  gods.  The 
knowledge  of  all  this,  therefore,  must  have  forced  the 

1  See  Mekilta,  I02\  Sifre,  jj)" . 

«  See  Mekilta  and  Sifrc,  ibid.         '  Schechtcr,  ibid.  pp.  639,  640. 


168    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

conviction  upon  them  that  as  they  alone  served  the  One 
and  only  God,  the  God  of  the  whole  earth,  that  therefore 
He  regarded  them  as  different  from  other  races,  as  a  people 
who  alone  of  all  nations  had  dedicated  themselves  to  Him, 
and  thus  that  His  interest  and  care  for  them  must  be 
proportionately  greater  than  for  other  men. 

On  the  other  hand,  with  ever-widening  views  of  the 
world,  and  with  ever-growing  conceptions  of  God,  some, 
at  all  events,  of  Israel's  thinkers  realized  that  if  there 
was  indeed  only  One  God,  only  One  Creator  of  all  the 
world,  only  One  who  was  merciful,  how  could  His  activity 
and  love  be  turned  from  the  great  mass  of  His  creation, 
and  be  restricted  to  one  race  ?  It  was  certainly  to 
combat  particularistic  ideas,  and  with  them  conceptions 
which  were  derogatory  to  God's  Greatness  and  Majesty 
that,  for  example,  the  book  of  Jonah  was  written,  with  its 
sublime  doctrine  of  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God. ' 

Thus,  there  must  have  arisen,  even  before  tlje  close  of 
the  Canon,  two  parties,  the  "  Exclusivists  "  and  the 
"  Universalists  "  ;  and  their  respective  conceptions  of 
God  were  coloured  and  influenced  by  these  two  antagon- 
istic ideas.  And  therefore  it  came  about  that  two  entirely 
different  doctrines  arose  regarding  the  relationship  between 
God  and  the  world — doctrines  which  are  found  side 
by  side  in  biblical,  apocryphal,  pseudepigraphic  and 
rabbinical  literature. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Intermediate  Agencies  between  God  and  Man. 

QuASi-PERSONiFiCATiON  of  Attrilnitcs  proper  to  God— Metatron — Memra 
— The  Holy  Spirit — Bath  kol~Thc  Shekkinah— The  Name — Bearing 
of  these  on  Christian  Doctrine. 

[Literature  :— Weber,  eh.  xiii ;  Bousset,  pp.  336-350 ; 
Ausgewdhlte  Mischnairactate  (ed.  Paul  Ficbig),  passim; 
Herford,  Christianity  in  Talmud  and  Midrash,  passim; 
Taylor,  Saymgs  of  the  Jewish  Fathers  ("  Pirke  Aboth  ") 
2.  ed.,  passim;  M.  Friedlander  pp.  22-38.  2  ed ;  The 
various  articles  in  the  JE  which  deal  with  the  subject ; 
The  Art.  Shekhinah  in  Hastings  DCG  ;  Holtzmann,  pp. 
317-322  ;  Schiirer  HJP.  II,  iii,  pp.  321-381.] 

One  of  the  most  striking  elements  in  the  official  rehgion 
of  the  Synagogue,  as  contained  in  Targum,  Talmud 
and  Midrash,  is  the  quasi-personification  of  certain  attri- 
butes proper  to  God.  They  occupy  an  intermediate 
position  between  personalities  and  abstract  beings.  While 
on  the  one  hand  they  are  represented  as  being  so  closely 
connected  with  God  as  to  appear  as  parts  of  Him,  or 
attributes,  they  are,  on  the  other  hand,  so  often  spoken 
of  as  undertaking  individual  action  that  they  must  be 
differentiated  from  God.  The  consideration  of  this  Jewish 
doctrine  of  intermediate  beings  is  of  great  importance  to 
the  Christian  theologian,  for  it  offers  a  striking  com- 
mentary on  the  Christian  doctrine  of  mediation  ;  this 
will  become  especially  apparent  on  reading  §  i,  below. 
In  how  far  the  two  religions  have  influenced  each  other 
in  this  respect,  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  ;  but  it  is 
worth  remembering  that  the  Talmud  and  kindred  writ- 
ings only  crystallize  what  had  in  very  many  cases  been 
current  long  before. 

One  may  well  ask  how  it  came  about  that  this  teaching 
on  intermediate  beings  arose  ;  and  perhaps  this  is  best 
explained  by  a  reference  to  the  well-known  prohibition, 

169 


^ 


y 


170     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

amongst  Jews,  of  pronouncing  the  divine  name.  Just  as 
there  was  a  disinchnation,  on  account  of  its  transcendent 
hoHness,  to  utter  the  name  of  God,  and  instead  to  sub- 
stitute paraphrases  for  it,  so  there  arose  a  disinchnation 
to  ascribe  action  directly  to  God,  because  of  His  inexpres- 
sible majesty  and  holiness  ;  and,  therefore,  the  different 
departments  of  divine  activity  were  accomplished  by 
means  of  these  intermediate  beings. 

Historically,  angels  and  spirits  precede  the  personifica- 
tions which  we  are  about  to  consider,^  and  indeed  the 
germ  of  the  conception  of  all  these  intermediate  beings  is 
to  be  sought  in  the  Old  Testament  ;  it  follows,  therefore, 
that  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  whole  subject,  Old 
Testament  teaching  must  to  some  extent  be  taken  into 
consideration. 

The  intermediate  beings  to  be  dealt  with  are  four  in 
number  : — 

I.  Mctatron.  II.  Memra.  III.  The  Holy  Spirit.  IV. 
The  Shekhinah. 

A  fifth,  the  Name,  which  occupies,  however,  a  much  less 
prominent  position,  will  also  be  considered ;  and  in  §  iii 
a  brief  reference  will  be  made  to  the  curious  conception 
expressed  by  the  term  Bath  Kol. 

I.  Metatron. 

The  etymology  of  this  word  is  the  subject  of  contro- 
versy ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  form  some  opinion  as  to 
its  derivation,  for,  clearly,  the  name  must  originally 
have  given  some  indication  regarding  the  functions  of 
this  personality. 

The  date  of  the  first  mention  of  the  word  is  not  without 
importance  in  seeking  to  fix  its  derivation.  According 
to  the  JE  (viii,  519),  it  is  Elisha  ben  Abuyah  ^  who  first 


> 20-23 


1  Cf.,    for    exami^le,   the    following    passages :    Exod.    23* 
32",  33"  ;  Num.  22,   I  Sam.   i6i'»  ff.  ;  i  Kings.  2221  ff_  .  job  i,  2. 

2  In  the  Babylonian  Talmud,  tractate  Chagigah  13^ . 


DERIVATION   OF   "  METATRON  "  171 

refers  to  Metatron  under  this  name  ;  this  Rabbi  hved 
during  the  first  half  of  the  second  century  a.d.  ;  therefore 
the  behef  regarding  Metatron  must  have  been  much  earher 
than  this  date,  for,  as  we  have  had  to  remark  before,  the 
behef  s  which  are  crystalhzed  in  the  Talmud  have  a  history 
before  their  appearance  there.  This  early  date  of  the 
mention  of  the  word  makes  it  improbable  that  it  was 
derived  from  the  Latin,  for  Roman  influence  upon  Jewish 
literature  is  not  likely  to  have  been  sufficiently  powerful 
to  have  induced  Jewish  teachers  to  derive  such  a  word  as 
Metatron  from  the  Latin.  A  Latin  derivation  is  the  less 
likely  in  that  the  first  mention  of  Metatron  occurs 
in  the  Babylonian  Talmud.  We  cannot,  therefore,  agree 
with  the  writer  on  this  subject  in  the  JE,  when 
he  says  that  "  the  derivation  from  the  Latin  '  metator  ' 
(  = '  guide  ')  is  doubtless  correct."  It  would  be  difficult 
to  point  to  any  instance  of  the  Latin  word  being 
used  in  this  sense.  "  Divider  "  or  "  Measurer  "  ;  is  what 
the  word  means,  but  not  "  Guide."  There  is,  it  is  true, 
at  least  one  passage  which  could  be  quoted  in  favour  of 
this  derivation  when  first  read,  but  not  on  considering  it 
further.  The  passage  is  from  Bereshith  rabbah,  c.  5  ;  it  is 
here  said  that  the  voice  of  the  Holy  One  became  to  Moses 
a  Metator,  in  order  to  show  him  the  boundaries  of  the 
Promised  Land.  There  is,  however,  here  nothing 
about  dividing  or  measuring,  it  is  only  a  question  of 
indicating  whereabouts  the  Promised  Land  lay ;  so 
that  the  fact  that  in  this  passage  Metator  is  used 
instead  of  Metatron  points  to  a  confusion  of  ideas, 
and  cannot  be  said  to  throw  any  real  light  upon  the 
derivation  of  Metatron.  Further,  Mr.  Herford  has 
shown  ^  how  untenable  is  the  theory  ^  which  regards  the 
idea  of  Metatron  as  of  Gnostic  origin,  or  which  identifies 
him  with  the  "  Logos  "  of  the  Jewish  Alexandrine  phil- 
osophy.    Another  improbable  theory  is  that  which  seeks 

1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  285-290,  2,73-376.  2  Sec  JE,  viii,  519. 


172    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  identify  Metatron  with  the  Zoroastrian  Mithra  ;  but 
how  very  unhkely  this  is  will  be  clear  to  anyone  reading, 
for  example,  Cumont's  Les  Mysteres  de  Mithra.'^  Once 
more,  it  is  pointed  out  'that  the  numerical  value  of  the 
letters  ^  of  the  word  Metatron  are  equal  to  314  ;  but  this 
is  also  the  numerical  value  of  the  letters  of  the  word 
Shaddai,  "  Almighty  "  ;  therefore,  it  is  said,  the  two  words 
are  synonymous,  Metatron  means  "  Almighty  !  "  This 
theory  is,  of  course,  hardly  to  be  taken  seriously,  though 
in  favour  of  it  are  quoted  two  passages,  one  from  the 
Babylonian  and  one  from  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,^  in  which 
Metatron  bears  the  title  of  "  Prince  of  the  World  "  ; 
a  title  which  more  probably  imphes  that  he  is  the 
representative  of  God  in  the  world. 

All  these  theories  must  be  rejected,  and  one  can  scarcely 
doubt  that  the  explanation  which  Weber  gives  is  the 
correct  one.  He  holds  that  Metatron  is  a  hebraized  form 
of  the  Greek  Metathronos  or  perhaps  Metatyrannos,  i.e., 
one  who  occupies  the  next  rank  to  the  ruler.  ^  This 
explanation  accords  with  the  functions  of  Metatron, 
which  we  now  proceed  briefly  to  examine  : — 

i.  The  representative  of  God.  This  function  shows 
Metatron  as  one  who  stands  in  the  closest  relationship  to 
God,  for  he  occupies  this  position  by  virtue  of  the  fact 
that  he  is  second  to  God  only  ;  indeed,  he  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  see  any 
difference  between  him  and  the  Almighty  ;  for  example, 
in  Sanhedrin  38'',  in  reference  to  the  words  of  Exod.  24^, 
And  he  (God)  said  unto  Moses,  Come  up  unto  the  Lord,  it  is 

^  See  especially  ch.  i,  Les  Origtnes,  pp.   1-25. 

*  The  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  are  also  numerals. 

*  Chullin   60^,  Jehamoth   16^. 

*  Weber,  op.  ciL,  p.  178  ;  we  cannot,  however,  follow  Weber 
when  he  speaks  of  the  analogy  of  the  "  Crown  Prince,"  or  as  we 
should  say,  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  for  this  would  imply  an  inherent 
ultimate  right  to  the  highest  position  itself  ;  an  idea  of  this  kind, 
as  Weber  himself  points  out,  is  never  put  forward  on  behalf  of 
Aleiatron. 


THE   FUNCTIONS   OF   "  METATRON  "        173 

asked  :  "  Why  does  not  God  say  :  '  Come  up  unto 
Me'?"  The  answer  is:  "It  was  Metatron,  whose 
name  is  equal  to  that  of  God,  to  whom  he  was  bidden  to 
come  up."  Logically,  there  is  no  difference  here  between 
God  and  Metatron.  One  must  remember  the  significance 
there  was  in  names  among  the  Jews  to  realize  the  import- 
ance of  this  passage  ;  the  name  was  equivalent  to  its 
bearer  (see  further  on  this  below).  In  the  passage  just 
quoted,  Metatron  is  said  to  bear  the  "  Tetragrammaton," 
i.e.  the  four  consonants  which  represent  the  unpronounce- 
able name  of  God ;  another  instance  of  the  practical  identity 
between  God  and  Metatron.  Elsewhere  ^  Metatron  is 
described  as  the  teacher  of  children,  but  in  other  passages 
this  is  said  to  be  the  duty  of  God  alone.  But  his  function 
of  representing  God  is  perhaps  seen  most  distinctly  in 
the  title  that  is  given  him  of  the  "  Prince  of  the  World  " 
{Sar  ha'oldm),  which  shows  that  he  was  thought  of  as  the 
ruler  of  the  world.  ^ 

ii.  The  Consoler  of  God.  This  function  ascribed  to 
Metatron,  which  to  us  appears  as  bordering  on  irrever- 
ence, well  illustrates  the  extremely  illogical  way  in  which 
at  one  time  God  is  represented  as  wholly  impassible,  at 
another  as  partaking  of  human  feehngs.  It  is  said  that 
when  God  was  lamenting  the  death  of  Moses,  Metatron 
comforted  Him  with  the  words  :  "  He  was  Thine  in  life, 
in  death  he  is  also  Thine." 

Some  extraordinary  ideas  seem  to  have  been 
current  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
concerning  Metatron  and  Moses  ;  in  the  Apocalyptic 
writing  called  The  Ascension  of  Moses, ^  for  example, 
we  read  that  Metatron  transformed  the  body  of  Moses 
into  a  fiery  figure  like  that  of  the  angels  and  led  him 
up  through  the  seven  heavens.  See  further  below 
(P-  177). 

'  Abodah  zarah  z^ . 

a  Chullin  60"  Jebamoth  16^. 

3  Arabic  version,  ed.  Gaster,  see  JE,  i,  679. 


174     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

Again,  when  the  Temple  was  destroyed,  God  is  repre- 
sented as  weeping  ;  but  Metatron  sought  to  comfort  Him, 
saying  :  "I  will  weep,  but  weep  not  Thou."  But  God 
answered  :  "If  thou  wilt  not  suffer  me  to  weep,  I  will 
go  whither  thou  canst  not  come,  and  there  will  I  lament." 
The  title  "  Prince  of  the  Presence,"  which  is  apphed  to 
Metatron,  and  which  implies  that  he  is  the  constant 
companion  of  God,  accounts  perhaps  for  the  amazing 
intimacy  between  Metatron  and  the  Almighty  which 
the  foregoing  points  to  as  having  existed. 

iii.  The  Mediator  between  God  and  Israel.  The  most 
characteristic  function  of  Metatron  is  that  in  which  he 
appears  as  mediator.  This  is  very  important,  for  it  shows 
that  the  idea  of  Mediation,  in  quite  a  Christian  sense,  was 
current   among  the   Jews   in  pre-Christian   times. 

It  is  true,  that,  as  far  as  Rabbinical  literature  is 

concerned,     this    statement    could    not    be   made 

positively,    though    doctrines    of    this    kind    which 

appear  in  Talmud  and  Midrash  (let  alone  the  Targums) 

certainly   do   not    occur   there   for   the  first   time. 

What  leads  to  the  conviction  that  the  doctrine  of 

Mediation  existed  in  post-bibhcal  Jewish  theology 

in  connexion  with  Metatron  is  his  identification  with 

Enoch  (see  below),  and  the  teaching  on  this  subject 

in  the  Book  of  Enoch,  the  latest  portions  of  which 

are    pre-Christian.     It    must    be    remembered,    too, 

that  the  Old  Testament  offers  much  on  which  to 

found  a  doctrine  of  Mediation. 

As  one  who,  as  we  have  seen,  was  so  much  in  the  presence 

of  God,  and  who  therefore  stands  in  the  closest  intimacy 

with   Him,  Metatron  occupies  an  appropriate  position  as 

Israel's  intercessor.     It   will,  therefore,  not  surprise  us 

to  find  that   in   one    passage   Moses   is   represented  as 

asking  Metatron  to  intercede  with  God  on  his  behalf, 

in  order  that  his  hfe  might  be  prolonged.     His  office  of 

Advocate  of  Israel  is  clearly  brought  out  in  Chagigah  15*, 

where  he  is  represented  as  writing  down,  in  the  presence 


''  METATRON  "  THE  "  HEAVENLY  SCRIBE  "  175 

of  God,  the  merits  of  the  Children  of  Israel  ;  he  is 
thus  spoken  of  as  the  "  Great  Scribe,"  the  advocate  who 
pleads  on  behalf  of  his  clients  before  the  Judge.  In 
Bemidbar  rahbah,  c.  12,  the  term  "  Mediator  "  is  directly 
apphed  to  Metatron,  and,  what  is  still  more  significant, 
he  is  represented  as  the  reconciler  between  God  and  the 
Chosen  People. 

iv.  Metatron  idcjitified  with  Enoch.  In  the  Jerusalem 
Targum  (Pseudo- Jonathan)  to  Gen.  5^*  Metatron  is 
said  to  be  the  name  of  Enoch  ;  it  says  there  :  "  Enoch 
ascended  into  Heaven  through  the  Word  of  God,  and 
He  (God)  called  him  Metatron,  the  great  scribe.^  It  is 
owing  to  this  passage,  as  Bousset  points  out,^  that  the 
figure  of  Metatron,  which  plays  such  a  prominent  part 
in  the  later  speculations,  first  assumes  importance  in 
Jewish  theology  ;  "  for,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  the  figure  of  Metatron  and  that  of 
the  Son  of  Man,  stand  in  some  relation  to  one  another."  ^ 
Another  reason  for  identifying  Metatron  with  Enoch  is 
that  both  are  referred  to  as  the  ' '  heavenly  scribe  " ;  we  have 
just  seen  how  the  title  is  applied  to  Metatron,  and  in 
reference  to  Enoch  it  is  found  in  the  Book  of  Jubilees 
4^3 :  "  And  he  (Enoch)  was  taken  away  from  among  the 
children  of  men,  and  we  led  him  into  the  garden  of  Eden 
to  renown  and  honour,  and  behold,  he  writes  down  there 
the  judgment  and  the  verdict  upon  the  world  and  upon 
all  the  evil  deeds  of  the  children  of  men."  ^  In  the 
Hebrew  writings,  according  to  Ludwig  Blau,  "  Metatron 
fiUs  the  role  of  Enoch  in  the  Apocrypha  in  bearing  witness 
to  the  sins  of  mankind.  Since  both  sources  represent 
him  as  a  youth,  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  first  versions 
of  the  Hebrew  mystical  works,   though  they  received 


1  Weber  op.  cit.,  p.   178.         2  op.  cit.,  p.  348. 

*  See  the  whole  passage  in  Bousset. 

*  Cf.   Die    Apokryphen  und    Pseudepigraphen    des    A.T.   (ed. 
Kautsch),  p.  47. 


176     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

their  present  form  in  the  Geonic  period,  ^  originated  in 
antiquity,  so  that  the  conception  of  Metatron  must 
Hkewise  date  from  an  early  period."  ^ 

It  is  characteristic  that  while  Metatron,  or  Enoch, 
appears  as  the  accuser  of  mankind  in  general,  he  occupies 
the  r6le  of  intercessor  and  reconciler  as  far  as  the 
children  of  Israel  are  concerned. 

V.  Metatron  identified  with  Michael  the  Archangel. 
This  identification  is  found  in  the  Jerusalem  Targum 
(Pseudo- Jonathan)  to  Exod.  24^  ;  but  there  are  other 
distinct  indications  of  their  identity.  He  is  called 
Michael  in  the  Ascension  of  Isaiah  9^^  ;  ^  both  appear  as 
advocate  and  mediator  of  Israel ;  we  have  seen  that 
this  is  the  case  with  Metatron,  and  that  he  is  also  known 
as  the  "great  scribe,"  who  writes  down  in  the  presence  of 
God  the  merits  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Michael  fulfils 
precisely  the  same  functions;  he  is  called  the  "  Advocate 
of  the  Jews,"  he  is  also  represented  as  the  High-priest  * 
who  constantly  makes  intercession  for  Israel  ;  as  to  his 
fillingtheofficeof  the"greatscribe,"see£«oc/i89^'^'"i''^-'^ 
Another  mark  of  their  identity  is  to  be  seen  in  their 
connexion  with  Moses  ;  thus,  we  are  told  that  Metatron 
helped  to  bury  the  body  of  Moses,  Jer.  Targ.  (Jonathan) 
to  Deut.  34®,  and  we  have  seen  how  he  is  represented  as 
comforting  God  on  the  death  of  Moses  ;  Michael,  it  is 
said,  would  not  bring  the  soul  of  Moses  to  God,  because 
he  had  been  Moses'  teacher  ;  the  passage  does  not  seem 
clear,  but  the  point  is  that  he  is  brought  into  connex- 
ion with  Moses,  after  the  death  of  the  latter,  just  as 
Metatron  is. 

In  the  Prayer- Book  of  the  Jews  of  Abyssinia  there  is  a 
very   curious    account   of    the    death  of    Moses    which   is 

1  I.e.,  589-1040  A.D. ;  the  Geonim,  "  Princes"  (of  the  Captivity), 
were  the  acknowledged  heads  of  the  academies  or  schools  of  Sura 
and  Pumbeditha,  in  Babylonia  ;  they  were  the  official  heads  of 
dispersed  Judaism  in  things  judicial  as  well  as  spiritual. 

a  L.  Blau  in  JE,  viii,  519,  where  further  details  will  be  found. 

*  Ibid.  *  Chagigah  12^'. 


"METATRON"    ONE   OF  THE   ANGELS     177 

recited  as  part  of  the  Office  for  the  Burial  of  the  Dead ;  in 
this,  Michael,  the  Angel  of  Death  (in  a  different  sense  of 
course  from  Sammael,  and  corresponding  perhaps  to  Isis 
and  Nephthys  among  the  Egyptians),  plays  an  important 
part.'  Cf.  in  this  connexion  Jude  g:  But  Michael  the  Arch- 
angel when  contending  ivith  the  devil  he  disputed  about  the  body 
of  Moses.  .  .  . 

vi.  Metatron  one  of  the  angels.  In  an  extraordinary 
passage  {Chagigah  i^")  it  is  shown  clearly,  if  somewhat 
drastically,  that  Metatron,  in  spite  of  the  very  pre-eminent 
position  which  he  seems  to  occupy,  was,  in  reality,  of  the 
angelic  order,  and  nothing  more.  This  passage  describes 
how  Elisha  ben  Abujah  entered  Paradise,  and  there  "  saw 
Metatron,  to  whom  was  given  the  power  to  sit  and  write 
down  the  merits  of  Israel."  Elisha  ben  Abujah  said  : 
"  It  is  taught  that  on  high  there  is  no  sitting,  no  strife,  no 
parting,  and  no  joining.  Can  there  be.  Heaven  forbid  ! 
tw^o  powers  ?  "  Then,  we  are  told,  "  they  brought  out 
Metatron  and  gave  him  sixty  lashes  of  fire."  This  was 
done,  as  Mr.  Herford  points  out  (quoting  Tosaphoth),  to 
show  that  Metatron  was  not  superior  in  kind  to  the  other 
angels,  however  much  he  might  be  in  degree. ^  This 
passage  is  significant  from  another  point  of  view  alto- 
gether, for  it  bears  witness,  in  an  unmistakable  manner, 
to  the  fact  that  popular  belief  did  regard  Metatron  as  a 
being  who  was,  at  the  lowest  estimate,  semi-divine.  We 
are  often  apt,  at  the  present  day,  to  regard  as  allegorical 
or  parabolic  the  substance  as  well  as  the  form  of  many  a 
belief  contained  in  the  Talmud  and  other  kindred  writings ; 
it  seems  to  us,  nowadays,  quite  incredible  that  people  in 
a  high  state  of  civilization  and  religious  progress  should 
have  actually  believed  many  things  which  we  could  not 
regard  as  otherwise  than  the  product  of  fantastic  imagina- 
tion ;  nevertheless,  it  is  well  that  we  should  try  and 
divest  ourselves  of  this  erroneous  impression  ;  let  it  be 
remembered  that  even  in  the  late  Middle  Ages  — nay, 


See  Mota  Muse,  ed.  Faitlovitch  (Paris  1906). 
Op.  cit.  p.  288. 


>3-(a*'7) 


178     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

so  late  as  a  few  generations  ago — there  was,  in  the  world 
in  general,  no  clear  differentiation  beween  fable  and 
fact  ;  what  must,  therefore,  have  been  the  mental 
attitude  towards  all  that  partook,  or  was  believed  to 
partake,  of  a  supernatural  character  five  hundred  years 
and  more  earlier  ?  Above  all,  let  it  be  remembered  that 
the  innate  religiousness  of  the  Jew,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made  in  an  earlier  chapter,  necessarily 
increases  the  tendency,  more  or  less  common  to  all 
in  an  unscientific  age,  to  formulate  theories,  which 
soon  crystallize  into  belief,  concerning  all  that  has  to  do 
with  the  invisible  world  of  supernatural  agencies.  The 
passage  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  shows  not 
merely  that  Metatron  was  regarded  as  a  personality 
endued  with  supernatural  powers — that  was  universal 
among  the  Palestinian  Jews  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Diaspora — but  that  he  was  by  some,  at  all  events,  beHeved 
to  come  perilously  near  equality  with  God.  It  was  for 
this  latter  reason,  primarily,  as  it  seems  to  us,  that  the 
passage  last  quoted  was  written  ;  and  it  was  designed 
to  show  those  whom  it  concerned  that  great  as  Metatron 
was,  he  was  nevertheless,  of  no  higher  being  than  such 
as  was  proper  to  the  order  of  angels. 

II.  Memra,  The  "  Word." 
There  are  two  roots  in  Hebrew  from  which  the  noun 
"Word"  can  come,  dahar  and  'amar,  and  both  are  used 
in  reference  to  the  "  Word  "  of  God.  Whatever  may 
originally  have  been  the  difference  between  these  two  is 
immaterial  for  our  present  purpose  ;  but  it  is  the  latter 
from  which  Memra  comes,  and  it  is  this  which  has  come 
to  be  used  specifically  of  God's  "  Word." 

It  is  worth  noting  that  Philo  uses  Reina  and  Logos  indis- 
criminately (see  below) ;  but  just  as  in  the  case  of  Memra,  so 
it  is  with  Logos,  which  has  come  to  be  used  technically  ; 
both,  as  we  shall  see,  became  personal  names. 

But  for  the  history  of  the  idea  of  the  "  Word  "  of  God, 


THE   "WORD"   OF   THE   LORD  179 

it  is  of  no  importance  which  of  the  two  roots  is  used  ; 
so  that,  although  Memra  is  never  used  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, we  must,  nevertheless,  look  to  the  Old  Testament 
in  order  to  follow  the  history  of  the  idea.  In  none  of 
the  intermediate  agencies  with  which  we  are  dealing 
can  the  development  be  so  clearly  seen  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Memra,  or  "  Word  "  of  God  ;  this  development 
can  be  most  easily  followed  if  it  is  illustrated  by  means 
of  some  quotations  from   the  different  sources  :— 

i.  In  a  number  of  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  the 
expression  the  "  Word,"  in  reference  to  Jehovah,  is  used 
in  a  way  which,  one  can  easily  understand,  appeared 
to  Jewish  thinkers  of  a  later  age  to  indicate  that  the 
"  Word  "  meant  something  more  than  a  mere  abstrac- 
tion ;    a  few  such  passages  may  be  given  : — 

Deut.  5^  :  /  stood  between  the  Lord  and  you  at  that  time, 
to  show  you  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

Num.  15=*^ :   He  hath  despised  the  word  of  the  Lord. 

Ps.   105^^  :    The  word  of  the  Lord  tried  him. 

Ps.   1072"  :    He  sendeth  his  word  and  healeth  them, 

Ps.   119"  :     Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart. 

Remembering  what  has  already  been  said  as  to  the 
great  difference  there  is  between  Eastern  and  Western 
ways  of  thought,  between  twentieth  century  ways  of 
looking  at  things  and  those  of  two  thousand  years  ago,  one 
can  readily  understand  that  when  passages  such  as  these 
came  to  be  explained  the  idea  of  the  "  word  "  being 
something  not  identical  with  Jehovah  naturally  suggested 
itself. 

ii.  In  post-biblical  times  one  can  see  reflected  in  the 
Apocrypha  how  this  development  had  proceeded.  It  is 
there  seen  that  God's  action,  and  especially  His  creative 
activity,  was  conceived  of  as  working  through  His  word  ; 
this  was  taken  to  be  the  meaning,  e.g.,  of  such  a  passage 
as,  By  the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made  (Ps.  33®)  ; 
and  the  whole  of  the  Creation,  as  described  in  Gen.  i,was 
believed  to  have  been  accomplished  by  means  of  his  word. 


180    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

One  is  irresistibly  reminded  of  Jn.  I'-s ;  these  verses,  or  at 
any  rate  the  first  three,  are  strictly  in  accord  with  orthodox 
Jewish  teaching,  though  the  Jewish  interpretation  of  them 
would  obviously  differ  from  that  of  a  Christian  (See  further 
below). 

The  following  passages  will  illustrate  this  development  : 

Ecclus.  42  ^^  :    In  the  words  of  the  Lord  are  his  works. 

Wisd.  9^  :  0  God  of  my  fathers,  and  Lord  of  mercy, 
Who  hast  made  all  things  with  thy  word.  .  .  ; 
J 31 5. 16  ;  jjii^ie.  almighty  word  leaped  down  heaven 
out  of  thy  royal  throne,  as  a  fierce  man  of  war 
into  the  midst  of  a  land  of  destruction,  and  brought 
thine  unfeigned  commandment  as  a  sharp  sword, 
and  standing  up  filled  all  things  with  death ;  and  it 
touched  the  heaven,  hut  it  stood  upon  the  earth. 
2  (4)  Esdras  6^^  :  Thy  word  was  (i.e.,  made)  a  perfect 
work  ;  the  reference  is  to  the  first  day  of  creation. 

iii.  In  turning  to  the  Targums  we  find  this  exemph- 
fied  further,  but,  as  will  be  seen,  a  considerable 
development  takes  place,  the  "  Word  "  becomes  now  a 
definite  personality. 

Exod.  19^'  :  And  Moses  brought  forth  the  people  out  of  the 
camp  to  meet  God ;  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  explains 
these  words  as  meaning  that  "  Moses  led  the 
people  forth  to  meet  the  Word  of  God." 

Deut.  i^"  :  The  Lord  your  God  goeth  before  you  ;  the 
same  Targum  paraphrases  :  "  Jehovah,  your  God, 
whose  Word  leads  you." 

Deut.  ^^^  :  Lest  thou  lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and 
when  thou  seest  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the 
stars,  even  all  the  host  of  heaven,  thou  he  drawn 
away  and  worship  them.,  and  serve  them,  which  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  divided  unto  all  the  peoples  under 
the  ivhole  heaven  ;  "  The  other  nations  are  subject 
unto  the  stars,  but  Israel  is  the  heritage  of  Memra." 

Deut.  5'^  :  /  stood  between  the  Lord  and  you  at  that 
time,  to  show  you  the  word  of  the  Lord,  is  explained  ; 
"  I  stood  between  the  Word  of  Jehovah  and  you." 


PHTLO'S   TEACHING   ON   THE   "LOGOS"     181 

Again,  the  Targiim  of  Jonathan  gives  the  following 
explanations  of  the  respective  passages  of  Scripture : 
2  Sam.  6"  :  And  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against 
Uzzah  ;  and  God  smote  him  there  for  his  error  ;  and 
there  he  died  by  the  ark  of  God  ;  "  The  Memra  of 
God  slew  Uzzah." 

1  Kings  8*°  :    Forgive  thy  people  which  have  sinned 

against  thee  ;  "  Forgive  the  people  all  their 
misdeeds,  which  they  have  committed  against 
thee  and  against  thy  Word."" 

2  Kings  19  28  :  Because  of  thy  raging  (i.e.  Sennacherib's) 

against  me,  and  for  that  thine  arrogancy  is  come 
up  into  my  ears,  therefore  will  I  put  my  hook  into 
thy  nose.  .  .  .  ;  "  Thou  hast  angered  my  Word." 
iv.  It  is  very  necessary  that  a  brief  reference  should 
be  made  to  the  teaching  of  Philo  concerning  the 
divine  Word  or  Logos.  This  great  Jewish  philosopher, 
who  hved  during  the  whole  of  Christ's  sojourn  here  on 
earth,  combined  in  his  teaching  the  faith  of  Judaism 
with  the  philosophy  of  Greece.  "  By  the  Logos  Philo 
understands  the  power  of  God,  or  the  active  Divine 
intelligence  in  general ;  he  designates  it  as  the  idea  which 
comprises  all  other  ideas,  the  power  which  comprises  all 
powers  in  itself,  as  the  entirety  of  the  supersensuous 
world  of  the  Divine  powers."  ^  The  Logos,  which  is 
also  spoken  of  as  Rema,  is  the  means  whereby  the 
creation  of  the  world  was  effected.  But  there  are 
two  points  in  the  teaching  of  Philo  on  this  subject  which 
are  of  very  special  interest  from  the  Christian  point  of 
view,  because  they  stand  midway  between  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  doctrines  of  mediation.  The  first  is  that 
the  Logos  occupies  the  position  of  intermediary  be- 
tween (iod  and  His  created  world  ;  he  is  the  interceder 
for  mortals   to    the    Immortal,    and    he    comes   as    the 


*  Zeller,  Die   Philosophie  der  Griechen  in   ihrer  geschichtlichen 
Entwickelung  iii,  2,  p.  371,  quoted  in  Schiirer,  op.  cit.,  II,   iii,  374. 


182    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

messenger  of  God,  to  proclaim  God's  will ;  while  he  is 
called  the  first-born  of  God,  who  was  from  the 
beginning,  he  is  yet  "  after  the  likeness  of  man  "  ;  as 
man's  advocate  and  interceder  with  God  he  is  spoken 
of  as  the  "  High-priest."  The  second  is  that  his  main 
work  is  the  liberation  of  man  from  evil  ;  he  himself 
is  free  from  sin  both  conscious  and  unconscious,  and 
he  is  said  to  live  in  the  hearts  of  men  to  keep  them 
from  sin  and  destruction  ;  if  he  leaves  the  heart  of  a 
man,  guilt  gains  the  upper  hand.  Like  the  Memra  of 
the  Targums  the  Logos  of  Philo  regards  the  Jewish 
nation  as  his  special  care. 

In    connexion    with    the    above   compare   Jn.     i^~^  : 
1)1  the  beginning  was  iJie  Word  .  .  .  all  things  were 
made  by  him  :  and  without  him  was  7iot  anvthing  made 
that   hath   been    made.     See   also    Rom.   8^^  :     It   is 
Christ  .  .   .  ivho  also  maketh  intercession  for  us  :  cf. 
Heb.  7^5  ;   Col.  i^^  :    Who  is  the  image  of  the  invisible 
God,   the  first-born  of  all  creation.      Phil.    2'  :  .  .  . 
Being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  .  .  .  ;    cf.  Rom. 
8^  :  Again  in  Jn.  3^  :  To  this  end  was  the  Son  of  God 
manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. 
Heb.  4^*,^^  :    Having  then    a    great    high-priest  who 
hath  passed    through  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God  .   .  .    cf.     ii**.     Heb.   4^^  :  .  ,  .    But    one    that 
hath  been  in  all  points  tempted  like   as  we   are,  yet 
withoiit  sin.     And  lastly,   Jn.    15^ :   Without    me   ye 
can   do    nothing. 
V.     As  an  example  of  the  somewhat  later  Jewish  teach- 
ing, the  following,  from  Shir  rabbah  '    is  instructive,  as 
it  illustrates  the  underlying  conception  of  the    Memra. 
The  passage  is  dealing  with  the  account  of  the  giving  of 
the  Law  on  Mount  Sinai,  and  it  is  explained  that  the 
"  Word  "   [Memra)  came  forth  from  the  mouth  of  God 
when  the    Ten  Commandments  were    pronounced,  and 


^  Weber  p.   180. 


ORIGIN   OF  THE    "  MEMRA  "-IDEA         183 

went  forth  to  each  Israehte,  asking  each  if  he  would 
accept  these  commandments,  and  telhng  him  at  the  same 
time  the  duties  involved,  as  well  as  the  rewards  to  be 
received  in  case  of  obedience.  As  soon  as  an  Israehte 
signified  his  willingness  to  become  obedient  to  the  Law, 
the  "  Word  "  kissed  him  on  his  lips. 

Reviewing  tlie  passages  as  a  whole  one  may  sa}' 
that  the  "  Word  "  is  represented  as  a  divine  power, 
working  for  the  salvation  of  Israel  ;  this  divine  power 
becomes  developed  into  a  Personality,  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  occupies  a  position  of  mediator  between  God  and 
His  chosen  people. 

vi.  A  word  as  to  how  it  came  about  at  all  that  the 
conception  of  the  Metnra  arose  will  find  an  appropriate  place 
here.  No  doubt  it  was  in  part  due  to  the  exigencies 
of  bibhcal  interpretation,  as  pointed  out  in  §  i  above  ; 
but  that  can  only  have  been  one  of  the  results  of  the 
evolution  of  the  idea  which  must  have  been  working  in 
the  minds  of  Jewish  thinkers  centuries  before.  The  real 
reason  lay  deeper.  In  post-biblical  Jewish  theology 
there  is  httle  to  show  that  God  Almighty  personally  directs 
the  course  of  the  world's  history.  Yet  it  was  unthinkable 
that  God's  interest  in  His  people  should  have  become 
any  less  than  it  was  of  old,  or  that  there  was  no  divine 
interference  in  the  history  of  the  nations  which  had  been 
such  a  marked  feature  in  the  teaching  of  the  great  prophets. 
On  the  one  hand,  that  is  to  say,  it  was  held  to  be  deroga- 
tory on  the  part  of  Jehovah  to  concern  Himself 
personally  with  mere  human  affairs,  ^  for  His  glory  and 
majesty  and  transcendent  greatness  seemed  to  place  Him 
infinitely  distant  from  insignificant  and  weak  mortals. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  inconceivable  that  God  should 
forget  about  and  forsake  His  own  creation.  The  question, 
therefore,  arose  as  to  how  it  was  possible  tobeheve  in  God's 
activity  in  the  world  without  detracting,  as  it  seemed, 


See  the  chapter  on  GOD. 


184    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

from  His  majesty  and  honour  ?  How  to  steer  a  middle 
course  between  the  behef  that  God  deputed  certain 
actions  to  His  representatives,  and  avoiding  the  danger 
to  the  fundamental  tenet  of  Judaism,  the  unity  of  God  ? 
The  religious  teachers  hit  upon  the  via  media  of  the  belief 
in  such  intermediate  agencies  as  the  Memra  and  Metatron, 
who  accomplished  God's  will  on  earth.  They  were 
inferior  to  God,  having  been  created  by  Him ;  but 
being  endowed  with  divine  attributes,  they  were  His 
representatives,  in  a  special  manner,  in  all  their  activity 
on  earth. ^ 

vii.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  teaching  con- 
cerning the  "  Word  "  is  faintly  observable  even  in  the 
modern  Jewish  Liturgy.  In  the  Evening  Service  of  the 
Synagogue  occurs  the  following  :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O 
Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  universe,  who  at  thy  word 
bringest  on  the  evening  twilight.  ..."  -  On  another 
occasion  it  says  :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God, 
King  of  the  universe,  by  whose  word  all  things  exist  "  ;  ^ 
and  again,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of 
the  universe,  by  whose  word  the  heavens  were  created, 
and  by  the  breath  of  whose  mouth  all  their  host."  This 
latter  is  the  commencement  of  the  act  of  praise  which 
is  ordered  to  be  said  on  the  appearance  of  the  new  moon.* 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  each  case  here  it  is  in 
connexion  with  the  divine  creative  activity  that  the 
word  is  mentioned  ;  so  that  here  again  one  is  forcibly 
reminded  of  Jn.  i^'^. 

III.    The  Holy  Spirit. 

The  first  question  that  naturally  arises  is  that  of  the 
Spirit's 

i.  Personality.     It  is  by  no  means  always  clear  as  to 


1  Cf.  the  doctrine  of  the  Demiurge   in  the  Gnostic  systems  of 
the  second  and  third  centuries  a.d. 
^  Singer,  p.  96. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  290.  ••  Ibid.,  p.  292. 


PERSONALITY   OF  THE   HOLY   SPfRTT    185 

whether  one  is  justified  in  speaking  at  all  of  the  Person- 
ality of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  Jewish  theology.  In  the  Bible, 
"  spirit  "  (ruach)  is  not  a  word  of  uniform  gender ;  in  like 
manner  the  Spirit  is,  in  post-biblical  Jewish  writings, 
spoken  of  interchangeably  as  masculine  and  feminine  ; 
thus  in  the  Talmud  and  Midrash  it  is  used  now  as  feminine 
and  now  as  mascuhne,  but  more  usually  as  a  feminine.^ 
This  is  important,  for,  as  is  well  known,  the  feminine  in 
Hebrew  and  cognate  languages  is  often  used  for  the 
neuter;  therefore  if  and  when  rwac/^  ("  spirit  ")  is  referred 
to  as  a  feminine  noun,  it  must  be  regarded  as  impersonal. 
And  in  various  passages  it  is  so  used  ;  for  example,  when 
spoken  of  as  a  power  going  out  from  God  ^  there  is  clearly 
no  thought  of  individual  personality  connected  with  it. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  personahty  is  certainly  implied 
in  such  a  passage  as  Wayyikra  rabbah  c.  6,  when  the  Spirit 
is  spoken  of  as  the  defender  of  Israel,  who  enumerates 
before  God  the  merits  of  the  Israelites  ;  ^  or  again  in 
Debarim  rabbah  c.  ii,  where  quotations  from  the  Bible 
are  referred  to  as  the  Spirit's  utterances.*  But  then  again, 
when  the  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  described  as  light 
f.-om  God,  or  as  a  divine  mode  of  utterance  {Bereshith 
nibbah  c.  85),  or  as  the  "  spirit  of  prophecy  "  {Jer.  Targ. 
t<>  Gen.  43^*),  the  idea  of  personality  obviously  recedes  ; 
Y'it,  his  manifold  activity,  above  all  as  the  inspirer  of  Holy 
Scripture,  as  clearly  implies  personality. 

It  would  seem  that  as  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
became  expressed  more  distinctly  and  exphcitly,  this 
development  provoked  keener  and  more  intense  hostility 
in  Rabbinical  circles.     It  cann©t  be  denied  that  certain 


1  Weber,  p.   191. 

2  This  would  accord  with  the  definition  which  Maimonides  gives 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,   viz.,   "  a  divine  potency." 

*  Cf.   I,  iii  above  for  the  like  office  of  Metatron. 

*  Cf.  I  Pet.  1^^,  Knowmg  this  first,  that  no  prophecy  of  Scripture 
is  of  private  interpretation  .  .  .  but  men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 


186    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

passages  in  the  Old  Testament  are  strongly  suggestive  of 
the  personality  of  the  Spirit,  for  example  :  Is.  ^o^^-  ^*, 
Who  hath  directed  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  or  being  his  coun- 
sellor hath  taught  him  ?  With  whom  took  he  counsel,  and 
who  instructed  him,  and  taught  him  in  tJie  path  of  judgment, 
and  taught  him  knowledge,  and  showed  to  him  understanding  ? 
Or  Is.  48^*,  And  now  the  Lord  God  hath  sent  me  and 
his  spirit.  Ps.  139^  Whither  shall  I  go  then  from  thy  spirit  ? 
And,  as  we  have  seen,  there  are  indications  in  the  post- 
biblical  literature  which  confirm  and  emphasize  such 
biblical  examples.  We  must  enquire  next  as  to  the  Spirit's 
ii.  Relationship  to  God.  According  to  Jewish  belief 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  created  ;  the  words  of  Gen.  i^  {The 
spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters)  is  inter- 
preted as  an  act  of  creation  on  the  part  of  God.  It  is 
interesting  to  observe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  spoken  of 
as  "  Light  of  Light  ;  "  ^  but  though  this  expression 
accords  with  that  found  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  it  does 
not,  of  course,  imply  the  same  truth.  One  may  perhaps 
regard  as  an  analogy,  as  far  as  the  Jewish  doctrine  is 
concerned,  the  light  which  is  said  to  have  shone  from 
the  face  of  Moses  on  his  descending  from  Mount  Sinai 
(Ex.  3924  ff.).  That  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  "  proceed  " 
from  the  Father  in  the  Christian  sense  is  clear  from 
the  comment  on  Gen.  i"'^  just  referred  to,  which  is 
that  found  in  the  Targ.  of  Onkelos ;  he  is,  more- 
over, spoken  of  in  the  Jer  Targ.  to  Gen.  41^^  {A  man  in 
whom  the  Spirit  of  God  is)  as  the  "  Spirit  (coming)  from 
before  Jehovah  "  (ruach  min  qedem  Jahweh),  an  expression 
which  precludes  the  idea  of  emanation  from  the  Deity. 
He  is  rather  the  Spirit  who  is  sent  out,  like  other  mes- 
sengers, from  the  presence  of  God  to  accomphsh  the 
divine  commands. 

For  the  idea  of  the  Spirit  being  a  messenger,  i.e.,  cingel, 
see  Bousset,  op.  cit.  p.  343  ;  to  the  references  there  given  may 
perhaps  be  added  the  account  of  the  Holy  Spirit  being  sent 


Weber,  p.   190. 


THE   HOLY   SPIRIT'S   ACTIVITY  187 

to  Isaiah  during  his  martyrdom  (cf.  Luke  22  *^).  lu  the  pseu- 
depigraphic  work,  called  The  Martyrdom  of  Isaiah  *  (5  '*), 
occurs  the  following  :  "  But  Isaiah  neither  cried  out  nor  wept 
while  he  was  being  sawn  asunder  (cf.  Hebr.  11"),  but  his 
mouth  conversed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  until  he  had  been 
sawn  in  two." 

It  is  said  {Yoma  21'')  that  in  early  times  the  Holy  Spirit, 
acting  as  God's  messenger,  was  always  at  work  in  the 
midst  of  Israel  ;  but,  apparently,  during,  and  after,  the 
Exile  this  ceased,  for  he  was  not  present  in  the  Second 
Temple  ;  indeed,  he  is  said  to  have  returned  to  God 
after  the  destruction  of  Solomon's  Temple.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  would  seem  that  his  activity  had  not 
entirely  ceased  in  later  times,  for  it  is  said  that  after  the 
time  of  Malachi  he  no  more  inspired  men  to  write  books 
of  the  Bible,  though  in  other  respects  he  influenced  men. 
As  though  to  try  and  account  for  this  inconsistency,  it 
is  taught  that  in  the  post-exilic  and  later  times  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  indeed  still  at  work,  but  that  it  was  only 
in  special  cases  that  he  manifested  his  activity,  and  that 
even  then  he  worked  in  a  more  secret  way  than  in  earlier 
days. 

iii.  Activity  among  men.  This  has  already  been  inci- 
dentally referred  to  in  the  two  preceding  sections  ;  we 
may,  however,  very  briefly  recapitulate  those  points 
which  specifically  concern  men.  No  doubt,  the  chief 
function,  under  this  head,  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  his  inspir- 
ing men  to  write  the  books  of  the  Bible  ;  this  may  appear, 
at  first  sight,  to  imply  a  certain  restriction  in  his  activity, 
but  it  was  not  really  so,  for  the  influence  which  induced 
the  writing  of  the  books  would  naturally  be  understood 
as  working  also  upon  those  who  read  them  or  who  heard 
them  read.  Then  again,  his  subordinate  personality  is 
shown  in  that  he  is  the  messenger  who  reveals  God's  will 


'  Ed.  Kautsch  ;  this  is  the  first  part  of  the  larger  work  called 
The  Ascensicni  of  Isaiah,  and  is  the  only  part  of  the  work  which 
is  Jewish,   and  belongs  to  the  first  century  a.d. 


188    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  the  hearts  of  men ;  his  voice, ^  which  is  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  audible  to  the  outward  ear,  at  other  times  as  audible 
to  the  inner  ear  of  the  heart,  directs  men  in  their  conduct 
of  life,2  and  answers  in  fact  to  what  we  should  call  con- 
science. He  is  also  spoken  of  as  the  "  spirit  of  prophecy,"  ^ 
the  word  being  used  in  the  sense  both  of  fore-telling  and 
forth-telling  ;  and  he  is  given  more  especially,  as  we  should 
expect,  to  those  men  who  study  the  Law  {Wayyikra 
rabbah  c.  35). 

In  the  pseudepigraphic  work  called  The  Testaments  of  the 
Twelve  Patriarchs  he  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  spirit  of  truth  " 
(Judah  20) ;  so,  too,  in  the  Book  of  fuhilees,  we  read  :  "  And 
at  that  time,  when  the  spirit  of  truth  (another  reading  is  '  the 
Holy  Spirit  ')  had  descended  into  her  (i.e.,  Rebecca's)  mouth, 
she  laid  her  two  hands  upon  the  head  of  Jacob  and  said : 
'  Praise  be  unto  thee,  Lord  of  truth  and  God  of  eternity  '  " 
(25"-i«). 

iv.  Identified  with  "  Wisdom."  What  is  in  some  respects 
the  most  striking  point  about  the  Jewish  doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  his  identification  with  the  Wisdom  of 
God  ;  this  brings  out  most  strongly,  as  will  be  seen,  the 
belief  in  the  personahty  of  the  Spirit.  Out  of  a  number 
of  passages  the  two  following  may  be  selected  :  Wisd. 
i^~'.  For  into  a  malicious  soul  wisdom  shall  not  enter  ; 
nor  dwell  in  the  body  that  is  subject  unto  sin  ;  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  discipline  will  flee  deceit  .  .  .  for  wisdom  is  a 
loving  spirit,  and  will  not  acquit  a  blasphemer  of  his  words  ; 
for  God  is  witness  of  his  reins,  and  a  true  beholder  of  his 
heart,  and  a  hearer  of  his  tongue.  For  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  filleth  the  world,  iji',  And  thy  counsel  who  hath 
known,  except  thou  give  wisdom,  and  send  thy  Holy  Spirit 
from  above. 

One  is  irresistibly  reminded  of  the  words  of  Isaiah  (11*)  : 
The  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  n.pon  him,  the  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  understanding.  .  .  . 

1  See  below  under  Bath  Kol,  p.  189. 

2  Cf.  Eph.  430,  Grieve  not  the  Holy    Spirit  of   God.      Rom.  8", 
The  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmity. 

^  Ci.  Rev.  191",  The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  sfnrit  of  prophecy. 


"BATH    KOL"  189 

This  teaching,  moreover,  is  not  wanting  in  Midrashic 
literature  ;  for  example,  in  Bcreshith  rahhah  c.  85  it  is 
said  that  Solomon's  wisdom  was  tlie  Holy  Spirit  guiding 
him.  Further  references  illustrating  this  identification 
could  be  considerably  multiplied. 

V.  In  connexion  with  the  Jewish  doctrine  concerning 
the  Holy  Spirit  a  word  must  be  said  about  the  curious 
phenomenon  known  as  the  Bath  Kol  (literally  :  "  The 
daughter- voice  ").  The  expression  means  a  divine  utter- 
ance audibly  proclaimed.  It  made  itself  heard  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  according  to  the  character  of  the  hearer, 
or  according  to  the  particular  circumstances  which  called 
forth  its  exercise  ;  thus,  at  one  time  it  is  compared  to 
the  roaring  of  a  Hon,  at  another  to  the  murmuring  of  a 
dove,  or  the  chirping  of  a  bird  ;  sometimes  it  is  said  to 
have  been  so  loud  that  it  could  be  heard  miles  away,  for 
example,  when  Moses  died,  it  is  said  [Sotah  13^)  that  a 
Bath  Kol  proclaimed  it  in  so  loud  a  voice  that  it  was 
heard  at  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  in  each  direction.^ 
The  words  spoken  by  the  Bath  Kol  were  always  few  in 
number,  and  were  as  a  rule  taken  from  Scripture.  But 
what  is  of  cnief  interest  here  is  that  the  Bath  Kol  was 
identified  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  spoken  of  as  the  voice 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  [Sotah  33* ;  Shahbath  m^)  ;  in  the 
former  of  these  passages  it  is  said  that  a  Bath  Kol  pro- 
ceeded out  of  the  "  Holy  of  Holies,"  where  only  the 
Shekhinah  (see  below)  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  conceived 
of  as  dwelling  ;  it  is,  however,  quite  exceptional  when 
the  Bath  Kol  proceeds  from  any  earthly  spot,  in  almost 
every  case  the  voice  comes  from  heaven  (e.g.,  Sota  48'' 
Jcr.  Targ.  [Pseudo-Jon?^  to  Num.  21^ ;  Jcr.  Targ.  to  Deut. 
28^^). 2  It  is  pointedly  observed  by  Weber  [op.  cit. 
p.  194)  that  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  Bath  Kol  were  both 
the  means  whereby  divine  revelations  were  accorded  to 


JE,  ii,  589. 

See  further  Weber,  pp.  194.  iq?.     JE,  ii,  589  ff. 


190     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

man  ;  but  the  earlier  and  fuller  revelations  were  given 
by  means  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  inspired  men,  such  as 
the  prophets,  in  abundant,  overflowing  measure,  whereas 
the  later  and  more  restricted  form  of  revelation  was  given 
by  means  of  the  Bath  Kol,  who  only  acted  as  a  kind  of 
oracle,  giving  only  short  answers  to  questions,  curt  deci- 
sions and  the  hke  ;  in  a  word,  while  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
poured  out  into  the  hearts  of  men  and  afforded  them 
permanent  spiritual  sustenance  and  guidance,  the  Bath 
Kol  gave  merely  incidental  directions.  Compare,  in  this 
connexion,  the  words  in  Jn.  3^*,  For  he  whom  God 
hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of  God  ;  for  he  giveth  not  the 
spirit  by  measure.  There  are  other  indications  in  the  New 
Testament  of  a  spirituahzed  behef  in  the  Bath  Kol  ; 
in  the  account  of  Christ's  baptism  (Matt.  3^^^^' ;  Mark, 
9^"^^ ;  Luke  321-22  •  there  is  no  mention  of  the  voice  from 
heaven  in  Jn.  1^^-^^)  the  mention  of  the  voice  from 
heaven  and  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  certainly  striking  in 
view  of  what  has  been  said  ;  then,  again,  in  the  account 
of  the  Transfiguration  we  read  of  a  "  voice  out  of  the 
cloud  "  (Matt.  175 ;  Mark,  9' ;  Luke,  g^^)  ;  other  instances 
are  :  Jn.  la^s^^o^  the  "  voice  out  of  heaven,"  which  the 
people  took  for  thunder  (cf.  5^^'  ^^,  Ye  have  neither  heard 
his  voice  at  any  time,  nor  seen  his  form  ;  and  ye  have  not 
his  word  abiding  in  you)  ;  Acts  lo^^'  ^^,  the  voice  which 
came  to  St.  Peter  bidding  him  to  eat  ;  but  as  this  occurs 
in  a  trance  it  is  not  strictly  analogous  ;  more  to  the  point 
is  Acts  9^'^  where  the  voice  is  accompanied  by  what 
certainly  corresponds  to  the  Shekhinah  in  Jewish  theology 
(a  "  light  out  of  heaven  ")  ;  Rev.  10*,  "  A  voice  from 
heaven,"  and  14^^,  where  the  "  voice  from  heaven  "  is 
that  of  the  Spirit.  1 

The  Bath  Kol,  in  Jewish  theology,  does  not,  however, 
stand  in  the  same  category  as  the  "  Intermediate  agencies  " 
already  spoken  about,  for  personahty  is   not   attributed 


Cf.  further  the  art.  Voice  in  Hastings  DCG. 


THE  SHEKHINAH  191 

to  it  ;  where  this  seems  to  be  the  case  we  must  regard  it 
as  indicating  identity  between  it  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
should  be  added  that  in  later  times  the  Bath  Kol  as  a  means 
of  revelation  fell  into  discredit  in  Rabbinical  circles. 

IV.     The  Shekhinah. 

This  word  comes  from  a  root  meaning  "  to  dwell,"  or 
"  to  abide  "  ;  this  fact  is  one  of  importance,  and  worth 
remembering  in  view  of  the  references  given  below,  for  the 
idea  of  "  dwelhng  "  or  "  abiding  upon  or  in  "  is  that  which 
underlies  the  use  of  the  Shekhinah  whenever  it  occurs. 

The  origin  of  the  Shekhinah  in  its  technical  sense,  is  to 
be  found  in  such  Old  Testment  passages  as  Ex.  40^*  ff.,  in 
which  we  are  told  that  the  "  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the 
tabernacle  "1,  and  the  "  cloud  "  dwelt  {shdkan)  over  it. 
The  glory  of  the  Lord,  conceived  of  as  a  bright  shining 
cloud,  was  the  sign  of  the  divine  presence  or  indwelling. 
Thus  the  ideas  of  God's  "  glory  "  and  of  His  "  indwelling  " 
are  very  closely  connected  ;  one  was  the  earnest  of  the 
other,  and  ultimately  they  became  identified.  But  inas- 
much as  this  sign  of  the  presence  of  God  was  conceived 
of  as  something  concrete,  i.e.,  a  cloud,  it  was  in  a  certain 
sense  differentiated  from  God  Himself.  This  it  was  which 
in  the  speculations  of  later  days  gave  a  handle  to  the  idea 
that  the  medium  of  God's  indwelling  itself  partook  of  the 
nature  of  personality.  It  was,  of  course,  a  long  process 
whereby  the  evolution  of  the  idea  ultimately  reached  its 
final  form.  In  the  earlier  stages  there  are  indications  of 
somewhat  naive  conceptions  ;  thus  in  Ex.  33®,^"  we  read. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Moses  entered  into  the  Tent, 
the  pillar  of  cloud  descended  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
Tent,  and  spake  ^  with  Moses.     And  all  the  people  saw 

^  The  Hebrew  word  for  tabernacle  is  mishkan,  and  comes  from 
the  same  root  as  Shekhinah ;  it  was  so  called  on  account  of  its 
being  Jehovah's  "  dwelhng-place  "on  earth  (see  Ex.  25",  ag**-  *"). 

^  The  R.V.  insertion  of  "  the  Lord  "  before  "  spake  "  has  no 
equivalent  in  the  original,  and  is,  therefore,  not  justified  ;  it  is 
the  "  cloud  "  which  is  rey^rcscnted  as  speaking  with  Moses. 


192    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  pillar  of  cloud  stand  at  the  door  of  the  Tent ;  and  all  the 
people  rose  up  and  worshipped,  every  man  at  his  tent  door. 
Other  passages,  such  as  that  referred  to  previously  (Ex. 
40^^  ff.),  take  a  more  spiritual  view,  and  in  these  the  idea 
of  imputing  personality  or  any  independent  action  to 
the  visible  sign  of  God's  glory  is  wholly  absent  ;  so  that, 
as  one  would  naturally  expect,  the  evolution  proceeds  from 
materialistic  to  abstract  conceptions. 

When  we  turn  to  the  post-biblical  literature  the  phe- 
nomena that  meet  us  are  ambiguous  in  character,  and 
have  been  interpreted  in  different  ways.  It  would  seem 
y  that  in  the  Targums  the  "  glory  of  God  "  (which,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  closely  connected  with  the  Shekhinah,)  is 
represented  as  the  sign  of  the  divine  presence,  i.e.,  wholly 
impersonal  in  character — an  "  expression  for  the  various 
relations  of  God  to  the  world "  ' — and  this  is  true 
perhaps,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  Talmud  also.  But 
the  phenomena  in  each  case  have  conflicting  features 
which  have  led  some  scholars,  and  even  Rabbis,  among 
whom  is  Maimonides,  to  regard  the  Shekhinah  as  a  distinct 
entity,  and  "  as  light  created  to  be  intermediary  between 
God  and  the  world." 

These  points  can  be  illustrated  from  the  few  following 
examples.  The  paraphrase  of  Ex.  34^  found  in  the 
Targum  of  (Pseudo-)  Jonathan  runs,  "  And  the  Lord 
manifested  himself  in  the  clouds  of  the  glory  of  his 
Shekhinah ;  in  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  to  Num.  6^^^- 
the  "  face  (in  the  sense  of  appearance  or  presence) 
of  the  Lord  "  is  spoken  of  as  the  Shekhinah.  In  the 
Talmud,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Shekhinah  appears  in  its 
relationship  with  men  as  one  person  dealing  with  another  ; 
for  example,  in  Sota  3^  it  is  said  that  before  Israel  sinned 
the  Shekhinah  dwelt  with  every  man  severally,  but  that 
after  they  sinned  it  was  taken  away.  Again,  an  interesting 
instance    is  found  in  Bereshith  rabbah  c.  19,  where  it  is 

^  Hamburger. 


THE   SHEKHINAH    AMONG   MEN  193 

explained  that  in  the  beginning  the  Shekhinah  dwelt  on 
earth,  but  when  Adam  sinned  it  withdrew  into  the  first 
heaven,  after  Cain  sinned  it  withdrew  into  the  second 
heaven,  in  the  days  of  Enoch  into  the  third,^  at  the  time 
of  the  Flood  into  the  fourth,  when  men  were  scattered 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  into  the  fifth,  at  the  time  of  the 
sinning  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  into  the  sixth,  and  at  the 
time  of  Egypt's  supremacy  in  the  days  of  Abraham  into 
the  seventh  ;  then  it  goes  on  to  say  that  through  seven 
righteous  men,  namely  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Levi, 
Kehath,  Amram  and  Moses,  the  Shekhinah  was  brought 
back  step  by  step,  until,  in  the  days  of  Moses,  it  came 
and  took  up  its  dwelling  in  the  Tabernacle.  Thus  the 
Shekhinah  takes  independent  action,  it  is  conceived  as 
something  distinct  from  God,  yet  emanating  from  and 
belonging  to  Him.  This  witnesses  to  much  the  same 
train  of  thought  which  was  seen  to  be  at  work  in  the  case 
of  Metatron  ;  God,  it  was  said,  is  too  great  and  holy 
to  be  Himself  present  among  men,  and  therefore  He 
deputes  this  intennediary  to  convey  His  presence  to 
the  earth,  while  He  Himself  remains  in  Heaven.  The 
presence  of  the  Shekhinah  among  men  is  a  belief  well 
illustrated  in  a  passage  in  Pirke  Ahoth-  ("Sayings  of 
the  Fathers  ")  viz.,  3^ :  "  Rabbi  Chananiah  ben  Teradyon 
said.  Two  that  sit  together  without  words  of  Torah  are  a 
session  of  scorners  .  .  .  but  two  that  sit  together  and 
are  occupied  in  words  of  Torah  have  the  Shekhinah  among 
them."  3  In  Sota  17*  it  is  said  :  "  Man  and  wife,  if  they 
be  deserving,  have  the  Shekhinah  between  them." 


1  For  the  idea  of  the  "  third  heaven  "  cf.  2  Cor.  12. a.  Accord- 
ing to  Chagigah  12^  and  elsewhere  there  exists  over  the  earth  a 
.seven-fold  heaven  ;  the  uppermost  is  called  "  Araboth."  and  it 
is  here  that  God  Himself  dwells,  it  is  His  Mechiza  ("  habitation  "). 

^  A  treatise  of  the  Mtshnah  containing  the  oldest  collection  of 
rabbinical  sayings  ;  it  is  incorporated  in  the  Jewish  Prayer- Book. 

*  The  wording  here  reminds  one  of  Matt.  18^".  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  My  Name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them. 


194    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

In  some  passages  in  the  New  Testament  the  thought 
of  the  Shekhinah  is  suggested  ;  e.g.,  Luke  i-"^^,  The  Holy 
Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High 
shall  overshadow  thee  (  =  theophanic  cloud)  ;  again, 
in  the  account  of  the  Transfiguration,  already  referred 
to  in  connexion  with  Bath  Kol,  the  words,  and  his  face 
did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  garments  became  white  as  the 
light  (Matt.  172),  are  significant  ;  see  also,  Jn.  i^*, 
And  we  beheld  his  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father ;  Acts  q^,  .  .  .  and  suddenly  there  shone  round 
about  him  a  light  out  of  heaven. 

"  shekhinah  is  sometimes  practically  equivalent  to  Memra 
(Logos),  but  we  may  distinguish  between  them  by  regarding 
the  one  as  the  medium  of  a  passive,  the  other  of  an  active 
manifestation ;  the  one  a  creative,  the  other  as  over- 
shadowing or  indwelling.  The  two  are  brought  together 
by  St.  John,  in  whose  theology  the  conceptions  assume  a  new 
definiteness,  and  the  medium  becomes  a  Mediator :  The 
Word  (Logos)  became  flesh  and  tabernacled  among  vs  {i^*).  The 
word  skenS  (tabernacle)  and  its  derivatives  are  chosen  on 
account  of  their  assonance  with  the  Hebrew  to  express  the 
Shekhinah  and  its  dwelling  with  men — cf.  especially  Rev.  21^, 
Behold,  the  tabernacle  {skate)  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall 
dwell  (R.V.  mg  "tabernacle"  [skenosei])  with  them — and 
indeed,  so  closely  does  Shekhinah  resemble  skene,  that  the 
former  has  even  been  thought  of  as  a  transliteration  of  the 
latter.  The  word  is  rare  in  the  Mishnah,  but  occurs 
frequently  in  Midrash  and  Gemara."  1 

Whether  the  Name  of  God  can  be  reckoned  among  these 
"  Hypostases  "  is  open  to  question  ;  it  certainly  stands 
in  quite  a  subordinate  position  in  this  respect  when 
compared  with  those  dealt  with  above,  but  see  on  the 
subject  Bousset,  pp.  343,  344.  On  the  personification  of 
Wisdom,  see  chap,  x,  The  "  Messiah." 


The  importance  of  the  doctrines  and  thought-tendencies, 
which  have  been  passed  in  review  above,  as  illustrating 


Taylor,  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers  {"  Pirke  Aboth  "),  p.  44  ; 
too,  p.   154  (2nd  ed.). 


INFLUENCE   ON   CHRISTIAN   DOCTRINE     195 

the  rise  and  growth  of  the  expression  of  Christian  ideas 
is  obvious  ;  but  it  should  be  added  that  they  largely  belong 
to  the  wider  and  richer  Judaism  which  has  had  to  give 
place  to  the  narrower  and  more  restricted  Judaism  of 
subsequent  times. 


CHAPTER  X.i 
The  Jewish  Doctrine  of  the  Messiah. 

Belief  in  the  Messiah  one  of  Growth  and  Development — Messianic 
Teaching  in  the  Apocrypha— Messianic  Teaching  in  the  Pseudepi- 
grapha — Contrast  between  Pharisaic  and  Jewish-Hellenistic 
Teaching — The  Teaching  of  later  Judaism. 

[Literature: — Schiirer,  HJP  II,  ii.  pp.  126-187;  Weber, 
pp.  348-405 ;  Bousset,  pp.  195-276 ;  Dalraan,  Words, 
pp.  289-324 ;  Friedlander,  Die  rel.  Bewegungen,  pp. 
1-177;  Holtzmann  pp.  395-410;  Schechter,  JQR, 
VII,  pp.   195-215;  JE,  art.   "Messiah."] 

I. 

As  the  roots  of  the  Jewish  teaching  on  this  subject 
reach  back  to  the  Old  Testament  it  is  indispensable  that 
a  very  brief  resume  of  the  leading  points  on  Messianic 
doctrine  as  there  embodied  should  be  enumerated  here. 
The  belief  in  the  Messiah  is  one  of  growth  and 
development.  It  will  be  unnecessary  to  labour  this 
point,  for  one  has  but  to  compare — to  give  but  one 
example — the  teaching  of  such  a  Messianic  passage  as 
Gen.  49^'i2  ^^iw^  the  Isaianic  teaching  on  the  subject,  to 
see  what  an  astounding  advance  in  spiritual  conception 
has  taken  place.  A  comparison  between  other  passages, 
belonging  respectively  to  early  and  late  periods  shows  a 
like  difference  of  ideal.  Secondly,  Messianic  belief  was 
very  far  from  being  always  of  a  spiritual  character ; 
indeed,  one  may  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  material  and 
worldly  conceptions  of  the  Messiah  form  the  normal  belief. 
When  spiritual  heights  are  reached,  it  is  exceptional ; 
this  is  so  up  to  the  very  end.  In  the  third  place,  we  find 
that  in  the  Old  Testament — and  it  is  the  same  in  the  later 

1  The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  in  some  respects  so  inextricably 
bound  up  with  that  of  Eschatology,  treated  in  chap  xi,  that 
these  two  chapters  should  be  read  in  conjunction. 


DEVELOPMENT    IN    MESSIANIC   TEACHING    197 

literature — Messianic  teaching  is  concerned  with  a  Person 
and  with  an  Era.  These  two  do  not  by  any  means  always 
run  concurrently.  Sometimes  the  Person  of  the  Messiah 
is  most  prominent  and  the  Messianic  Era  is  lost  sight  of 
altogether  ;  at  other  times  the  reverse  is  the  case,  the 
Person  of  the  Messiah  recedes,  and  the  Messianic  Era, 
with  its  unmistakeable  characteristics,  fills  the  entire 
foreground.  Then  again,  at  other  times,  both  ideas 
are  combined.  Fourthly,  the  characteristics  and  calhng 
of  the  Messiah  differ  according  to  different  ages,  such 
characteristics  being  conditioned  mainly  by  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  ;  this  is  what  might  be  naturally 
expected  if,  according  to  our  first  point,  the  behef 
concerning  him  was  one  of  growth  and  development. 
Lastly,  the  Messiahship  is  fastened  on  to  various  historical 
personages,  before  the  real  Messiah  of  prophecy  ap- 
peared; examples  of  this  are,  Cyrus  (Isa.  45^),  Zerubbabel 
(Hag.  223;  Zech.  38;  6^^). 

Put  in  the  briefest  possible  way,  and  without  any 
attempt  at  detail,  these  seem  to  be  the  chief  points  to  be 
remembered  as  far  as  the  frame-work  and  main  ideas  of 
Messianic  teaching  in  the  Old  Testament  are  concerned. 

II. 

In  the  Apocrypha  the  most  striking  fact  concerning 
Messianic  teaching  is  that  whereas  the  Messianic  Era 
and  the  signs  of  its  approach  receive  here  and  there  a 
certain  amount  of  notice,  the  personaHty  of  the  Messiah 
is  hardly  referred  to  excepting  in  2  (4)  Esdras.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  try  to  show  that  if  the  conceptions 
of  the  Messiah  and  the  Messianic  Era  did  not  originate 
in  the  time  of  David,  at  any  rate  the  personality  of 
David  and  his  reign  offered  an  unique  basis  upon  which 
to  found  Messianic  teaching  ;  but  the  truth  of  this  is, 
at  the  least,  adumbrated  in  such  a  passage  as  Ecclus. 
47^^  ;  for  after  enumerating  the  virtues  of  David  (vv. 
i-io),  it  goes  on  :    "  The  Lord  took  away  his  sins,  and 


198     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

exalted  his  horn  for  ever,  and  gave  him  the  law  of  the 
Kingdom  (cf.  Deut.  14^^),  and  set  his  throne  over  Israel." 
The  everlasting  character  ("for  ever")  of  the  Kingdom 
shows  infallibly  that  the  writer  had  the  Messianic 
Kingdom  in  mind  ;  this  could  be  proved  by  many  Old 
Testament  and  other  passages,  cf.  i  Mace.  2^'.  The 
Book  of  Tobit  offers,  at  all  events,  one  passage  which 
deals  with  the  subject  ;  it  is  an  interesting  passage,  for 
it  is  an  instance  of  the  hope  of  the  coming  Messianic 
Kingdom  being  used  for  cheering  despondent  captives 
(14^)  ;  the  writer  draws  a  distinction  between  the  modest 
little  Temple,  as  he  sees  it  (namely  that  of  Zerubbabel) — 
so  different  from  the  glorious  Temple,  the  building  of 
which  David's  forethought  rendered  possible — and  the 
Temple  that  is  to  be,  the  Temple  of  the  Messiah  ;  " .  .  . 
and  the  house  of  God  shall  be  built  in  it  (i.e.,  in  Jerusalem), 
a  glorious  building,  for  all  future  generations,  even  as  the 
prophets  spoke  concerning  it."  Very  striking  in  the 
same  passage  is  the  teaching  concerning  the  "  universa- 
hstic"  character  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom :  "  And  all  the 
Gentiles  shall  turn  to  the  truth  and  fear  of  the  Lord  God, 
and  they  shall  bury  their  idols.  And  all  the  Gentiles 
shall  praise  the  Lord,  and  his  people  shall  render  thanks 
to  God,  and  the  Lord  will  exalt  his  people,  and  all  they 
that  love  the  Lord  God  in  truth  and  justice  shall  rejoice, 
in  showing  mercy  to  our  brethren "  (14^'  ').  This 
inclusion  of  the  Gentile  world  in  the  Messianic  Kingdom 
is  identical  with  that  of  the  highest  prophetical  teaching 
on  the  subject  ;  the  narrow  exclusiveness  of  Pharisaism 
was  in  striking  contrast  to  this  universal  character  of  the 
Messianic  Kingdom  as  here  depicted.  One  of  the  most 
instructive  passages  in  the  Apocrypha  on  this  subject  is 
I  Mace.  14*"^^,  for  here  we  have  some  of  the  stereotyped 
characteristics  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom  described  as 
actually  in  existence  during  the  leadership  of  Simon, 
sumamed  Thassi,  who  was  the  founder  of  the  high -priestly 
dynasty  of  the  Hasmoneans  (b.c.  143-135)  ;  a  few  verses 


MESSIANIC  TEACHING   IN   4  ESDRAS      199 

from  this  passage  may  be  quoted  in  order  to  show  that  the 
condition  of  the  country  is  described  in  terms  with  which 
we  are  famihar  in  other  Messianic  passages:  v.  8,  "  Then 
did  they  till  their  ground  in  peace,  and  the  earth  gave  her 
increase,  and  the  trees  of  the  field  their  fruit  "  (cf.  Lev. 
26*  ff. ;  Ezek.  342')  ;  vv.  11,  12,  "  He  (i.e.  Simon)  made 
peace  in  the  land  and  Israel  rejoiced  with  great  joy  ; 
for  every  man  sat  under  his  vine  and  his  fig-tree,  and  there 
was  none  to  make  them  afraid"  (cf.  i  Kings,  5^;  Mic.  4*) ; 
v.  14,  "  He  raised  up  all  that  were  brought  low  among 
his  people  ;  he  was  very  zealous  for  the  Law,  he  drove 
away  every  renegade  and  every  wicked  man"  ;  v.  14, 
"  The  Sanctuary  he  made  glorious,  and  multiphed  the 
holy  vessels."  One  sees  how  the  whole  passage  resounds 
with  the  characteristic  key-notes  of  the  Messianic  Era, — 
Peace,  Plenty,  Justice,  Observance  of  the  Torah,  and  a 
glorious  Temple.  It  is  quite  what  might  be  expected  when 
we  find  the  author — under  God — of  these  blessings, 
singled  out  for  especial  honour  ;  for  according  to  I4*^ 
the  quasi-royal  high-priesthood  is  to  become  hereditary 
in  his  family. 

But  the  only  book  in  the  Apocrypha  which  deals  in 
detail  with  the  personality  of  the  Messiah  is  2  (4) 
Esdras  ;  this  book,  however,  shows  manifest  signs 
of  interpolation,  and  in  considering  it  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Jewish  doctrine  of  the  Messiah  and  his  king- 
dom considerable  caution  is  needed  ;  thus  chaps,  ii  and 
xvi,  which  have  so  much  of  a  Messianic  character,  are  obvi- 
ously from  a  Christian  hand,  and  do  not  belong  to  the 
book  in  its  original  form.  The  sixth  vision  describes  how 
Esdras  saw  a  man  that  came  out  of  the  sea,  against  whom 
were  gathered  an  innumerable  multitude  of  men  who 
had  come  from  the  four  winds  of  Heaven  to  subdue  him. 
But  the  man  went  up  into  a  mountain,  and  as  the  multi- 
tude came  against  him,  he  destroyed  it  with  fire  that 
came  out  of  his  mouth,  and  suddenly  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen,  but  only  dust  and  the  smell  of  smoke.     Then 


200    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

another  multitude  was  gathered  about  him,  this  time 
peaceable  (13^"^^).  In  the  interpretation  of  this  vision,  it 
is  said  that  the  man  who  came  out  of  the  sea  is  the 
redeemer  of  the  world  who  wiU  come  and  make  aU  things 
right  on  earth  ;  against  him  the  nations  of  the  world 
will  rise  up,  but  he  shall  stand  on  the  top  of  Mount  Zion 
and  destroy  them  with  his  word.  Then  he  will  call  to 
himself  the  scattered  ten  tribes  (the  "  peaceable  multi- 
tude "),  and  will  defend  them,  and  show  them  great 
wonders  (13^*"^*').  These  wonders  are  the  annihilation  of 
all  the  enemies  of  God,  the  gathering  together  of  all  those 
who  are  faithful  to  God, — i.e.,  the  dispersed  of  Israel — 
and  the  inauguration  of  the  Messianic  Era,  which  will 
last  for  four  hundred  years.  After  this  the  Messiah  and 
all  flesh  shall  die  ;  then  shall  follow  the  general  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  Most  High  shall  judge  the  world  ;  and 
finally  there  shall  be  a  new  world.  There  is  one  point  of 
peculiar  interest  in  the  presentation  of  the  Messiah  in  this 
book  ;  in  12^^  it  is  said,  "...  that  is  the  Anointed, 
whom  the  most  High  has  kept  for  the  end  of  the  days, 
who  will  arise  and  come  forth  out  of  the  seed  of  David 
.  .  ."  ;i  but,  as  we  have  just  seen,  the  Messiah  was  He 
who  "  came  up  out  of  the  sea,"  and  who  came  "  flying 
upon  the  clouds  of  Heaven  " ;  ^  the  Messiah,  therefore,  is 
here  represented  as,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  seed  of  David, 
and  thus  human,  but  on  the  other  hand,  as  superhuman, 
coming  upon  the  clouds  of  Heaven.  The  behef  in  the 
pre-existence  of  the  Messiah  is  one  which  often  occurs 
in  Rabbinical  literature  (e.g.,  Sanhedrin  98'' ;  Targ  Jer.  to 
Mic.  4«). 

III. 

In  the  Psetidepigraphic  Hterature  the  various  pictures 
of  the  Messiah  and  Messianic  Era  which  we  meet  with  are 

1  See  Kautsch  in  loc.  ;    the  English  Version  here  is   not  to   be 
reUed  upon. 
»  Cf.  Dan.  7''. 


MESSIANIC  TEACHING  IN  PSEUDEPIGRAPHA    201 

very  confusing.  The  reason  of  this  is,  firstly,  that  the 
different  writers  colour  their  treatment  of  the  subject  in 
accordance  with  the  varying  historical  circumstances  of 
the  times.  But  then,  again,  there  are  two  distinct  sets 
of  ideas  both  with  regard  to  the  Messiah  as  well  as  to  the 
Era,  which  are  often  mixed  up  together.  Of  these  the 
first  deal  with  the  whole  subject  as  purely  worldly  and 
material  ;  the  Messiah  is  of  the  seed  of  David  who  is  to 
come  and  set  up  a  temporal  kingdom,  the  enemies  of 
Israel  are  to  be  destroyed  with  fire  and  sword  ;  here  the 
exclusive,  nationalistic  conceptions  predominate.  But 
side  by  side  with  these,  and  often  inextricably  mixed  up 
with  them,  we  find  eschatological  pictures;  the  end  of  the 
world,  heralded  by  unprecedented  terrors,  is  announced, 
and  the  Messiah  is  superhuman,  the  weapons  wherewith 
the  enemies  of  God  are  to  be  destroyed  are  spiritual  ; 
and  it  is  no  more  a  question  of  the  supremacy  of  Israel 
alone,  but  all  men  who  are  faithful  to  God  are  to  belong 
to  the  Messianic  kingdom.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  these 
points  in  mind,  in  connexion  with  the  references  in  this 
class  of  htcrature  now  to  be  given. 

In  that  section  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  called  "  The 
Vision  of  the  Seventy  Shepherds"  (chaps.  85-go),  the 
Messiah  is  represented  as  a  white  bull  ;  He  comes  at  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  all  the  Gentiles  come  and  submit 
themselves  to  him.  But  this  universalistic  conception 
is  placed  in  more  or  less  close  connexion  with  a  narrower, 
nationalistic  one,  in  which  the  Messiah  recedes,  and 
God  Himself  defends  Israel  from  the  attacks  of  their 
enemies  ;  and  the  supremacy  of  Israel  is  established  on 
earth  ;  yet  the  Messiah  does  not  appear  to  take  any  part 
in  this  Israehte  supremacy  on  earth  ;  God  is  their  ruler. 
The  Messiah  does  not  appear  in  this  section  of  the  book  as 
anything  more  than  human.  In  another  section  (the 
Similitudes,  chaps.  37-71)  the  Messiah  is  represented  in 
quite  a  different  manner  ;  here  he  is  spoken  of  as  "  the 
Righteous  One,"  who  "shall  appear  before  the  eyes  of  the 


202    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

elect  righteous  "  (38'),  as  the  "  Elect  One  who  will  sit 
on  the  throne  of  glory,"  and  judge  men;  and  the  "  Elect 
One  will  dwell  among  men,"  and  heaven  and  earth  will 
be  transformed  (45^"®)  ;  and,  most  significant  of  all, 
he  is  called  "  the  Son  of  Man,"  and  is  "  hke  one  of 
the  holy  angels,  "  and  he  occupies  a  seat  in  Heaven  beside 
the  "  Ancient  of  days  "  (46^)  ;  in  the  same  way,  it  is  said 
of  him  that  "  before  the  sun  and  the  signs  (i.e.,  of  the 
Zodiac)  were  created,  before  the  stars  of  heaven  were 
made,  his  name  was  named  before  the  Lord  of  Spirits  " 
(48^),  and  he  has  been  "  chosen  and  hidden  before  Him 
before  the  Creation  of  the  world,  and  for  evermore  " 
(48^).  Here,  then,  the  conception  of  the  pre-existence 
of  the  Messiah  comes  out  clearly,  and  therefore  also  his 
supernatural  character.  A  similar  thought  comes  out 
in  the  Sibylline  Oracles  (5*1*  *^),  "  For  a  Blessed  Man  came 
from  the  vault  of  Heaven,  bearing  in  his  hands  the 
sceptre  which  God  had  given  him  .  .  .  " ;  in  the  same 
book,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Messiah  is  spoken  of  as 
"  the  King  whom  God  will  send  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  (i.e.  the  East).  .  .  (3^^^^^).  Further,  in  the  Syriac 
Apocalypse  of  Baruch,  there  is  a  description  of  the 
wonders  that  will  take  place  when  the  Messiah  is  re- 
vealed (29^)  ;  under  the  figure  of  the  destruction  of 
a  forest  through  overflowing  water  the  seer  describes 
the  annihilation  of  the  world-powers  by  the  Messiah, 
who  then  reigns  till  all  is  completed  (chaps.  36-60). 
In  the  same  book,  in  the  vision  of  the  cloud  rising 
from  the  sea,  the  Messiah  is  spoken  of  as  lightning, 
which  illumined  the  whole  earth  (53^)  ;  this  is  the  same 
thought  as  that  found  in  Matt.  24^"^,  For  as  the  lightning 
Cometh  forth  from  the  east,  and  is  seen  even  unto  the  west, 
so  shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man. 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that  in  none  of  these  books 
has  there  been  any  hint  as  to  the  Messiah  being  of  the 
seed  of  David  ;  of  all  the  pseudepigraphic  books  there 
are  onl}^  two  in  which  this  Messianic  trait  finds  expression, 


THE   MESSIAH   OF   THE   SEED   OF   DAVID   203 

firstly,  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  ;  indeed,  in  these  psalms, 
there  is  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  personality  of  the 
Messiah  and  His  rule  than  in  any  other  book  belonging  to 
this  class  of  literature.  The  Messianic  conceptions,  as 
one  would  naturally  expect  in  a  Pharisaic  work,  are  of  a 
thoroughly  nationahstic  and  exclusive  character  ;  the 
Messiah  will  first  cleanse  Jerusalem  by  ridding  it  of  unjust 
rulers  and  impious  heathen  ;  then  he  will  gather  together 
all  Israel  who  are  scattered  among  the  nations,  and  settle 
them  in  their  own  land,  where  he  will  found  his  kingdom 
of  peace  and  righteousness.  All  the  Gentiles  shall  be 
subject  to  him  ;  by  the  power  of  his  word,  sin  and  wicked- 
ness shall  cease,  and  through  his  trust  in  God  his  kingdom 
will  stand.  But  this  Messiah  is  an  Israehte  of  the  seed  of 
David  :  "  Thou,  Lord,  hast  chosen  David  to  be  King 
over  Israel,  and  hast  sworn  to  him  concerning  his  seed  at 
all  times  that  his  kingdom  shall  not  cease  from  before 
Thee"  (17^  ff.).  The  other  book  in  which  the  Messiah  is 
represented  as  belonging  to  the  seed  of  David  is  The 
Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs ;  but  there  is,  at 
the  same  time,  a  very  unusual  conception  of  the 
Messiah  here  presented  ;  for  in  the  "  Testament  of 
Levi  "  the  Messiah  is  represented  as  a  Priest- King  ;  in 
the  vision  of  the  Seven  Men  clothed  in  white  garments, 
the  Messiah  is  clothed  with  the  priestly  dress,  and  he 
puts  on  the  wreath  of  righteousness  and  the  jewel  of 
understanding  upon  his  breast,  and  the  garment  of  truth 
and  the  diadem  of  faith,  and  the  "  mitre  of  the  sign,  and 
the  garb  of  prophecy  upon  his  shoulder ;  "  ^  and  they 
say  to  him  :  "Be  thou  from  henceforth  the  priest  of  the 
Lord,  thou  and  thy  seed  for  ever  "  (8)  ;  then,  later  on,  it  is 
said  of  him  :  "  He  will  shine  like  the  sun  upon  the  earth, 
and  he  will  take  away  all  darkness  from  the  earth,  and 
there  shall  be  peace  upon  the  whole  earth  .  .  .  and  in  his 
days  shall  the  heavens  rejoice,  and  the  earth  shall  be 

»  Cf.  Eph.  vi,  13-17. 


204     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

glad  .  .  .  and  he  shall  open  the  gates  of  Paradise,  and 
shall  take  away  the  sword  that  was  drawn  against  Adam, 
and  he  shall  feed  his  saints  with  the  word  of  hfe,  and  the 
spirit  of  holiness  shall  rest  upon  him  .  .  ."  (i8,  the  whole 
passage  is  a  very  beautiful  one,  and  should  be  read). 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  "  Testament  of  Judah,"  it  is 
again  one  of  the  seed  of  David  who  will  be  the  Messiah,  a 
star  out  of  Jacob,  who  will  reign  in  peace  ;  here,  too,  the 
universalistic  tendency  shows  itself  in  the  words  :  "  And 
through  him  the  sceptre  of  righteousness  shall  arise  upon 
the  heathen,  to  judge,  and  to  save  all  who  call  upon  the 
Lord"  (24). 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that  the  representation  of  the 
Messiah  in  this  pseudepigraphic  hterature  is  of  a  two-fold 
character.  At  one  time  particularistic,  material,  and 
temporal  ideas  predominate  ;  but  mostly  it  is  the  univer- 
salistic, spiritual  and  heavenly  character  of  the  Messiah  and 
his  kingdom  that  finds  expression.  This  latter  teaching 
is  of  immense  importance  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  as  it  helps  us  to 
understand  the  way  in  which  men's  minds  had  been  pre- 
pared for  the  advent  of  Christ.  The  whole  conception  of 
the  apocalyptic  character  of  the  Kingdom,  which  is 
to  consist  of  the  righteous  who  are  God's  elect,  whether 
they  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  as  well  as  of  the  Messiah  in  his 
spiritual,  transcendental  character,  is  probably  of  Jewish- 
Hellenistic  origin  ;  while  the  narrow  unimaginative 
picture  of  the  Messiah  is  purely  and  characteristically 
Pharisaic.  There  seems,  it  cannot  be  denied,  something 
entirely  natural  in  the  fact  that  the  Pharisees,  who  hved 
on  Palestinian  soil  and  who  inherited  in  a  far  more  realistic 
way  the  national  traditions,  and  especially  the  exclusive 
ideas  which  had  been  handed  down  from  the  time  of 
Ezra,  should  be  imbued  with  narrow  views  and  should 
have  an  outlook  which  was  circumscribed, — while]  the 
Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  who  had  come  into  such  close 
contact  with  the  outside  world,  and  whose   sympathies 


PHARISAIC  AND   HELLENISTIC  TEACHING   205 

had  in  consequence  been  proportionately  broadened, 
should  have  had  a  far  more  extended  horizon,  and 
larger  views  concerning  the  Messiah  and  his  kingdom. 
To  Pharisaic  Judaism  the  Messiah  remained  ever  an 
earthly  king,  whose  interest  was  centred  in  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  who  cared  httle  about  the  outside  world  ; 
but  to  the  Hellenistic  Jew  the  Messiah  was  a  heavenly 
King,  whose  dominion  was  to  include  the  whole  earth, 
whose  subjects  were  to  be  all  who  were  worthy  of  such 
a  king,  and  whose  kingdom  was  to  be  a  spiritual  one. 
It  is  small  wonder  that  the  Palestinian  Jews  should  have 
thought  that  the  presence  of  Christ  among  their  brethren 
of  the  Dispersion  would  be  more  congenial  to  Him — 
Will  he  go  unto  the  Dispersion  among  the  Greeks  ?  Jn. 
7^^.  If  traces  of  the  wider,  universalistic  conception  are 
to  be  found  in  the  later  Talmudic  literature  (cf.  §  1  of 
the  next  chapter),  that  only  testifies  to  the  power  and 
attraction  of  this  nobler  and   worthier  teaching. 

IV. 

The  twelfth  Principle  of  the  modem  Jewish  Creed  runs  : 
"  I  believe  with  perfect  faith  in  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
and  though  He  tarry,  I  will  wait  daily  for  His  coming."  ^ 
This  is  an  exceedingly  inadequate  expression  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Messiah,  as  it  says  nothing  about  his 
nature  and  personality,  nor  of  his  duties,  nor  of  the  objects 
of  his  coming.  The  orthodox  behef  concerning  the  Jewish 
Messiah  must  besought  in  the  Talmud,  "the  final  author- 
rity  in  Judaism."  *  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Messiah,  as  contained  in  Rabbinical  literature,  is  much 
fuller  and  more  adequate.  Here,  as  one  would  expect,  the 
conception  of  an  earthly  Messiah  is  the  prevaihng,  though 
not  the  exclusive  one  ;  this  has  been  the  officially  recog- 
nized doctrine  accepted  by  Judaism  since  the  end  of  the 

*  Singer,  p.  89,  cf.  Friedlander,  p.  255. 

*  M.  Joseph,  Judaism  as  Creed  and  Life,  p.  vii. 


206    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

first  century  a.d.  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  it  is,  generally 
speaking,  a  fundamental  point  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
Messiah,  who  is  yet  to  come,  will  be  of  the  seed  of  David  ; 
he  will  make  Israel  a  free  and  independent  people,  and 
set  up  his  kingdom  of  peace  and  prosperity.  The  great 
question  was  how  and  when  this  period  of  Messianic 
glory  would  be  realized  ;  this  was  a  natural  question  in 
post-exilic  times  and  onwards  in  face  of  the  unfulfilled  pro- 
phecies of  the  prophets.  The  answer  "  lay  in  the  dualistic 
conception  of  two  worlds  :  a  present  world,  corrupt  by 
reason  of  the  evil  powers  inherent  in  it  ;  and  a  future  ideal 
world, — a  conception  of  things  due,  in  part  at  least,  to 
foreign  influences.  The  logical  consequence  of  this  dualistic 
belief  was  (i)  that  God's  plan  of  salvation  can  only  be 
realized  after  all  the  evil  powers — the  host  of  Satan  and  the 
heathen  subject  to  them,  together  with  the  world  itself — 
shall  have  been  annihilated,  and  (2)  that  the  future  world, 
with  all  its  blessings  pre-existing  from  eternity  in  heaven, 
shall  then,  at  the  end  of  time,  descend  thence  and  replace 
the  old  world,  having  the  perfect,  glorious  New  Jerusalem 
for  its  centre.  .  .  .  The  eschatological  drama  is  enacted 
not  in  one  era,  but  in  two  :  the  temporary  Messianic 
interim,  and  the  everlasting  heavenly  bliss — the  latter 
offset  by  the  everlasting  torments  of  hell  in  store  for  the 
wicked.  In  general  tone  and  colouring  the  older  apoca- 
lypse served  as  a  model  for  the  Neo-Hebrew.  It  shows 
the  same  particularism  and  narrow  nationalism  that  pre- 
dominate in  the  later,  according  to  which  the  kingdom 
of  God  means  salvation  for  faithful  Israel  alone,  but  for 
the  unrepentant  heathen  world  damnation.  ...  In  hke 
manner,  the  gross  sensuousness  in  the  detailed  description 
of  the  joys  of  the  Messianic  and  supramundane  world  is 
quite  common  in  the  older  apocalyptic.  So  also  is  the  fact 
that  besides  the  revelations  regarding  the  end  of  time,  and 
the  occurrences  in  that  period,  there  are  not  infrequently 
other  revelations  concerning  supernatural  subjects— 
for  example,  heaven,  hell  and  paradise,  the  mysteries  of 


PRE-EXISTENCE   OF  THE   MESSIAH       207 

the  Creation,  the  course  of  the  universe,  angels,  and  the 
whole  world  of  spirits,  even  God  Himself — and  in  these 
revelations,  the  phantasy  of  the  older  apocalyptic  is  quite 
as  unrestrained  and  extravagant  as  that  in  the  later."  ^ 
It  is,  in  part  at  all  events,  due  to  the  belief  that 
the  blessings  of  the  ideal  Messianic  Era  pre-existed 
from  eternity  in  heaven,  that  the  conception  of  a 
pre-existent  Messiah — a  conception  of  extreme  interest 
from  the  Christian  point  of  view — finds  frequent  expres- 
sion in  Talmudic  literature.  This  conception  is  of  a 
two-fold  character ;  in  the  first  place  the  Messiah  is  believed 
to  have  existed  in  Heaven  before  the  world  was  created  ; 
God,  it  is  said,  contemplated  the  Messiah  and  his  works 
before  the  Creation  of  the  world,  and  concealed  him  under 
His  throne  (cf.  i  Pet.  i^^)  ;  Satan,  it  is  added,  asked 
God  what  the  light  was  under  His  throne,  and  God  rephed 
that  it  was  one  who  would  bring  him  to  shame  in  the  future  ; 
then,  being  allowed  to  see  the  Messiah,  Satan  trembled 
and  sank  to  the  ground,  crying  out  :  "  Truly  this  is  the 
Messiah  who  will  deliver  me  and  all  heathen  kings  over 
to  hell"  {Pesikta  rahhati  36). ^  So,  too,  in  the  Haggadah, 
the  name  of  the  Messiah  is  included  among  the  seven  things 
created  before  the  world  was  made  {Pesikta  54"",  Nedarim 
39").^  Secondly,  it  is  taught  in  the  Jerusalem  Targum  to 
Mic.  4^  that  the  Messiah  is  hiding  on  the  earth,  and  that  the 
sins  of  his  people  prevent  him  from  coming  forth  as  their 
leader.  According  to  another  tradition,  David  is  the 
Messiah  ;  then  again,  it  is  said  that  the  Messiah  is  bom, 
but  that  he  has  not  yet  been  revealed.  These,  and  other 
similar  beliefs,  point  to  the  conception  of  a  Messiah 
pre-existent  on  earth,  and  the  idea  is  strikingly  illustrated 
by  what  we  read  in  the  Gospels  (Matt.  17^",^^)  :  Why 
then  say  the  Scribes  that  Elijah  must  first  come?  And  he 
answered  and  said,  Elijah  indeed  cometh  and  shall  restore 


JE,  i.  675. 

JE,  viii,  511.  3  ji£^  i^  73g  fj 


208    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

all  things  .  .  .  cf.  Mark  6^^;  8^8;  911 ;  Luke  q^/^. 
These  things  point  to  a  conception  of  the  Messiah  as  one 
who  was  super-human,  but  it  is  of  especial  interest  to  find 
that  the  divine-human  character  is  directly  taught  in  the 
Talmud  ;  Rabbi  Akiba,  in  commenting  on  Dan.  y^  {I 
beheld  till  thrones  were  placed[R.V.  marg.  "  cast  down  "]  and 
one  that  was  ancient  of  days  did  sit),  he  explains  the  plural 
("  thrones  ")  as  meaning  that  one  was  for  God  and  another 
for  the  Son  of  David,  i.e.  the  Messiah,  making  him  equal 
with  God  [Chagigah  14^),  see  John  ^^^,  Phil.  2^  In 
Bereshith  rabbah  c.  85,  and  elsewhere,  the  Messiah  is  spoken 
of  as  the  Go'el,  "  Redeemer"  ;  he  is  called  in  this  passage 
Go'el  'acheron,  the  "  latter  Redeemer,"  the  first  being 
Moses,  cf.  Luke  i^^,  24^1 ;  Gal.  3^3,  4^ ;   i  Pet.  i^s-ao 

It  is  taught,  further,  that  certain  signs  will  herald  the 
approach  of  the  Messianic  Age ;  as  these  remind  one 
forcibly  of  some  passages  in  the  Gospels,  it  will  be  of 
interest  to  indicate  them  briefly.  There  is  to  be  a  time 
of  the  "Woes  of  the  Messiah"  immediately  preceding  the 
Messianic  Age,  and  a  general  break-up  of  the  Gentile  na- 
tions will  come  about  through  their  fighting  against  and 
annihilating  one  another ;  all  humanity,  Israel  included,  will 
suffer  from  the  sword,  from  plague,  pestilence  and  famine ; 
earthquakes  and  other  convulsions  of  nature  will  likewise 
be  portents  of  the  Messianic  Age  ;  further,  home-life, 
of  old  time  so  dear  to  the  Jew,  will  be  broken  up,  children 
mocking  and  maltreating  their  parents,  and  members  of 
the  same  household  fighting  against  each  other  ;  truth  and 
faithfulness  will  be  mocked  at  ;  ^  with  all  this  cf.  Matt. 
24«  31,  Mark  13 ^  Luke  iS^,  2  Tim.  3^-^ 

The  Rabbis  taught  that  the  world  would  last  six 
thousand  years  ;  of  these  the  first  two  thousand  were 
described  as  the  period  during  which  the  Torah  did  not 
exist  on  earth  ;  the  second  two  thousand  they  dated 
from  the  time  when  Abraham  taught  the  Torah  in  Haran, 

1  Sanhedrin  97*. 


THE    MESSIANIC   ERA  209 

and  it  was  called  the  period  of  the  Torah,  i.e.,  the  time 
during  which  the  Torah  held  sway  ;  the  last  two  thousand 
years  were  called  the  "  days  of  the  Messiah,"  because  this 
period  was  to  be  inaugurated  by  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah  ;^  after  this  was  to  come  the  "  Eternal  Sabbath  "  ; 
the  Targum  to  Eccles.  7'-^  teaches  that  the  Messiah  will 
appear  on  a  Sabbath. 

The  conditions  of  the  Messiah's  appearance  are,  firstly, 
repentance  and  good  works.  "  If  all  Israel,"  it  is  said  in 
Pesikta  163'',  "  were  to  spend  unitedly  one  whole  day  in  the 
showing  fortii  of  repentance,  redemption  by  the  Messiah 
would  come."  The  second  condition,  as  far  as  Israel  is 
concerned,  of  the  Messiah's  advent  is  the  earnest  observ- 
ance of  the  Law,  especially  keeping  the  Sabbath  holy. 
When  the  commencement  of  the  third  (i.e.  the  Messianic) 
period  had  gone  by  without  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah, 
the  Rabbis  explained  it  by  showing  that  the  sins  of  Israel 
necessitated  a  postponement.^ 

As  to  the  actual  Messianic  Era  itself  the  Rabbis  teach 
a  good  deal.  Its  main  characteristics,  as  far  as  the  Jews 
are  concerned,  may  be  briefly  summed  up  under  three 
heads  :  The  Messiah  will  inaugurate  for  his  people  a  time 
of  external  glor}^  he  will  make  them  the  rulers  of  the  world, 
and  he  will  also  bring  them  to  spiritual  perfection.  This  is 
to  be  the  final  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  the  accomplishment 
of  God's  promises  (cf.  2  Cor.  i^")  ;  "  All  the  prophets 
prophesied  only  concerning  the  days  of  the  Messiah  " 
{Shahbath  63-'').  As  the  height  of  spiritual  perfection 
was  conceived  of  as  consisting  in  the  full  observance  of 
the  Torah,  it  was  tauglit  that  the  Messiah  himself  when 
he  comes  will  set  the  supreme  example  in  this  {Targ.  to  Isa. 
9^),  and  that  in  consequence  the  true  observers  of  the 
Torah  will,  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah,  number  a  great 

1  Sanhedrin  97^;  the  "days  of  the  Messiah"  are  preUminary  to 
and  lead  into  th^  "Age  to  come"  {Oldm  ha-ba),  which  includes 
Eternity,  cf.  Luke   iS'". 

»   Yoma  9^. 

l5-(-4i7) 


210    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

multitude  [Ihid.  to  Isa.  9^).  In  this  way  the  Messiah  will 
in  his  days  make  peace  between  God  and  Israel,  and  of  that 
peace  there  will  be  no  end,  so  that  the  blessing  of  God  will 
be  poured  out  upon  His  people  to  the  full.  In  this  glorious 
Messianic  kingdom  not  only  the  dispersed  members  of  the 
nation,  but  also  all  those  who  have  died  will  participate ; 
these  will  come  forth  from  their  graves/  to  take  their  share 
in  the  happiness  and  the  glories  of  that  age  of  bliss. 

1  Cf.  Matt.  275*.    - 


CHAPTER    XI. 

ESCHATOLOGY.^ 

The  Kingdom  of  God — The  EschatoloRical  Drama  ;  World-Epochs  ;  The 
War  of  Gog  and  Magog  ;  The  Fate  of  the  Gentiles  ;  The  Purifica- 
tion of  the  Land  ;  The  Ingathering  of  Israel  ;  The  Rebuilding  of 
Jerusalem  ;  The  Future  Life  ;  Gehenna  ;  Paradise. 

Jewish  eschatology,  or  the  doctrine  of  the  "  last  things," 
is  a  subject  of  such  vast  dimensions,  that  within  the 
hmits  of  a  single  chapter  it  will  obviously  be  impossible 
to  do  more  than  indicate  some  of  its  more  salient  aspects. 
By  the  New  Testament  Period  Judaism  was  in  posses- 
sion of  most,  if  not  all,  of  its  eschatological  ideas.  These 
were  developed  during  the  two  eventful  centuries  that 
immediately  preceded  the  rise  of  Christianity.  It  was 
these  centuries  which  saw  the  rise  of  the  Apocalyptic 
movement  with  its  vast  eschatological  developments, 
that  were  essentially  bound  up  with  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  Hfe,  and  the  belief  in  a  judgment  after  death, 
with  rewards  and  punishments. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  Apocalyptic  Litera- 
ture 3lS  a  whole,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out, ^  is  a  popular 
literature  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  reflects  the  thoughts  of  religious 
circles  which  were  outside  the  recognized  Rabbinical  schools  ; 
and  it  embodies  religious  ideas  which  in  many  points  sharply 
conflicted  with  the  strict  scholastic  orthodoxy  of  the  Phari- 
sees. The  main  energies  of  the  latter  were  devoted  to  the 
development  of  the  "  oral  tradition,"  in  order  to  build  a 
hedge  around  the  Law,  and  fix  a  sharp  line  of  demarcation 
between  Israel  and  the  outside  world.  The  Apocalyptists, 
on  the  other  hand,  though  loyal  to  the  Law,  did  not  make 
it  their  exclusive  pro-occupation.  They  were  much  more 
deeply  interested  in  "  transcendental  Messianism,"  and  in 
speculative  schemes  regarding  the  "  end  "  of  the  age,  and  all 

*  Cf .  the  articles  Eschatology  in  EB  and  in  JE ;  also  Bousset, 
2nd  cd.,  pp.  245-277  ;  333-346,  to  all  of  which  this  chapter  is 
largely  indebted. 

*  Cf.  part  I,  ch.  iii. 

211 


212    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

that  such  involved.  On  the  other  hand,  orthodox  Rabbinic 
Judaism — which  represents  the  triumph  of  the  Pharisaic 
party  within  the  ranks  of  Judaism — has  practically  banned 
the  entire  apocalyptic  literature.  Nevertheless,  apocalyptic 
teaching  profoundly  influenced  orthodox  Judaism  in  some 
respects.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  e.g.,  and  of  the 
resurrection  became  integral  parts  of  Jewish  belief. 

"  Jewish  eschatology,"  it  has  been  said,  "  deals 
primarily  and  principally  with  the  final  destiny  of  the 
Jewish  nation  and  the  world  in  general,  and  only  secon- 
darily with  the  future  of  the  individual  ;  the  main 
concern  of  Hebrew  legislator,  prophet,  and  apocalyptic 
writer  being  Israel  as  the  people  of  God,  and  the  vic- 
tory of  His  truth  and  justice  on  earth."  ^  These  points 
can  be  conveniently  illustrated  in  what  follows  under 
separate  headings. 

I.  The  Kingdom  of  God. 
It  is  characteristic  of  Judaism  in  all  its  manifestations 
that  it  looks  to  the  future  for  the  full  realization  of  its 
hopes  and  religious  yearnings.  And  all  that  it  can  hope 
for  from  the  future  is  summarily  included  under  the 
term  "  Kingdom  " — or  rather  "  rule  (or  sovereignty)— 
of  God."  This  sovereignty  of  God,  visibly  manifested 
and  realized,  was  "  the  prophetic  goal  of  human  history." 

As  Dalman  *  and  others  have  shown,  the  expressions 
rendered  "  Kingdom  of  Heaven "  (17  ^aaCKtia  twv  ovpavoiv, 
peculiar  to  the  First  Gospel  in  the  New  Testament)  or  "  King- 
dom of  God  "  (ij  liaaiKda  tov  6fov)  and  their  Hebrew 
equivalents  {malkuth  shdmayim,  etc.)  are  more  correctly 
rendered  as  "  Sovereignty  of  God."  "  Heaven  "  in  the  former 
is  a  substitute  for  the  divine  name. 

At  the  outset  it  is  important  to  note  the  distinction, 
fundamentally  present  (though  later  confused)  in  Jewish 
theology,  between  the  idea  of  the  "  Kingdom  of  Heaven  " 
over  which  God  reigns,  and  that  of  the  Kingdom  of  Israel 
ruled  over  by  the  Messiah. 


1  Dr.  Kohler  in  JE,  v,  209. 

2  Words,   p.   Qi  /. 


THE    "ALENU"    PRAYER  213 

The  Jewish  conception  of  the  "  sovereignty  of  God  " 
was  not  primarily  poHticah  Its  main  thought  was  the 
hope  that  idolatry  would  be  extirpated,  and  the  one 
God  acknowledged  throughout  all  the  worid,  and  the 
worid  itself  "  perfected  "  under  the  direct  "  rule  of  the 
Almighty."  This  reaches  sublime  expression  in  the  great 
Alenu  prayer  (Singer,  pp.  j(^-77),  the  closing  paragraph  of 
which  runs  as  follows  :  ' 

We  therefore  hope  in  Thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  we  may 
speedily  behold  the  glory  of  Thy  might,  when  Thou  wilt 
remove  the  abominations  from  the  earth,  and  the  idols  will 
be  utterly  cut  off,  when  the  world  will  be  perfected  under 
the  Sovereignty  (Kingdom)  of  the  Almighty,  and  all  the 
children  of  flesh  will  call  upon  Thy  name,  when  Thou  wilt 
turn  unto  Thyself  all  the  wicked  of  the  earth.  Let  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  world  perceive  and  know  that  unto  Thee 
every  knee  must  bow,  every  tongue  must  swear.  Before 
Thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  let  them  bow  and  fall  ;  and  unto  Thy 
glorious  name  let  them  give  honour  ;  let  them  all  accept 
the  yoke  of  thy  Sovereignty,  and  do  Thou  reign  over  them 
speedily  and  for  ever  and  ever.  For  the  sovereignty  is  Thine, 
and  to  all  Eternity  Thou  wilt  reign  in  glory  ;  as  it  is  written 
in  Thy  Law  :  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  And 
it  is  said  :  And  the  Lord  shall  be  Sovereign  over  all  the  earth  ; 
in  that  day  shall  the  Lord  be  One,  and  His  Name  one. 

Cf.  also  the  following  which  forms  part  of  the  Amidali- 
prayer  for  the  New  Year  Services  {Rosh  hash  an  ah)  : — 

Now,  therefore,  O  Lord  our  God,  impose  Thine  awe  upon 
all  Thy  works,  and  Thy  dread  upon  all  that  Thou  hast 
created,  that  all  works  may  fear  Thee  and  all  creatures  pros- 
trate themselves  before  Thee  ;  that  they  may  all  form  a 
single  band  to  do  Thy  will  with  a  perfect  heart,  even  as  we 
know,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  dominion  is  Thine,  strength  is 
in  Thine  hand,  and  might  in  Thy  right  hand,  and  that  Thy 
name  is  to  be  feared  above  all  that  Thou  hast  created 
(Singer,  p.  239). 

But  though  in  its  essence  universal,  the  actual 
recognition  of  God's  sovereignty  in  the  world  was 
inextricably  bound  up  with  the  history  and  fortunes  of 
the  chosen  people.      God's  kingship  was  first  recognized 

*  This  prayer  is  usually  ascribed  to  Rab  (c.  240  a.d.)  ;  but 
may  be  much  older  (possiblj'-  pre-Christian)  see  JE,?..v.  Alenu  I, 
3i6 


214    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  made  known  on  the  earth  by  Abraham.  "  Before 
our  father  Abraham  came  into  the  world,  God  was,  as 
it  were,  only  the  king  of  heaven  ;  but  when  Abraham 
came,  He  made  him  to  be  king  over  heaven  and  earth."  ^ 
Afterwards  this  secured  a  firmer  basis  when  a  whole 
nation — Israel  at  the  Red  Sea  and  at  Sinai — yielded  wil- 
ling allegiance  to  God  as  King.  The  nation  soon,  it  is 
true,  became  rebellious  ;  but  the  ideal  relationship 
remained,  and  was  maintained  by  the  righteous  remnant 
throughout  all  the  generations. 

The  recognition  of  God's  sovereignty  was  conceived 
by  the  Teachers  of  the  Law,  as  we  should  expect,  to  be 
bound  up  essentially  with  the  conscious  acceptance  of  the 
Torah,  as  being  the  supreme  revelation  of  God's  will. 
According  to  Simon  ben  Lakish  (c.  260  a.d.)  the  proselyte 
who  adopts  the  Law  thereby  "  takes  upon  himself  the 
sovereignty  of  heaven . "  ^  To  "  take  upon  oneself  the  yoke 
of  the  sovereignty  (or  kingdom)  of  Heaven  "  is  a  regular 
Rabbinical  phrase  in  this  connexion.  The  daily  reci- 
tation of  the  Shenia'  by  the  Israelite  is  even  spoken  of 
as  such  an  act  of  allegiance  continually  repeated.  Thus 
Gamaliel  II  (c.  no  a.d.)  when  on  the  evening  of  his 
marriage  an  attempt  was  made  to  persuade  him  to  regard 
himself  as  exempt  (being  a  bridegroom)  from  the  duty 
of  reading  the  Shema',  replied  :  "I  yield  not  to  you  in 
that — to  lay  aside  even  for  one  hour  the  sovereignty  of 
God."  3 

The  "  sovereignty  of  God,"  though  essentially  eternal, 
is  thus  as  yet  only  imperfectly  reahzed  in  Israel.  Its 
full  glory  has  not  yet  been  made  manifest.  This  can  only 
take  place  when  Israel  has  been  freed  from  foreign 
domination,  and  when  the  nations — the  Gentile  world — 
shall  have  yielded  allegiance  to  God. 

The  former  of   these  aspirations  receives    expression 


»  Sifre,  Deut.  113  (ed.  Fried.  134''),  cited  in  Dalman,  op.  cit.,  p.  96. 
2  Cf.  Dalman.  ibid.         *  Ber.  ii,  5   (cited  ibid). 


THE    "  KADDISH  "    PRAYER  215 

in  the  eleventh  petition  of  the  "  Eighteen   Blessings  " 
(the  Ajnidah-pTayer) ,  which  runs  as  follows  : — 

Restore  our  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  our  counsellors  as 
at  the  beginning  ;  remove  from  us  grief  and  suffering  ;  reign 
Thou  over  us,  O  Lord,  Thou  alone,  in  loving  kindness  and 
tender  mercy,  and  justify  us  in  judgment.  Blessed  art  Thou, 
O  Lord  the  King,  who  lovest  righteousness  and  judgment 
(Singer,  p.  48). 

The  (added)  twelfth  Petition  contains  a  prayer  for 
the  removal  of  "the  kingdom  of  violence"  (i.e.,  the 
Roman  government)  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Divine  sovereignty.  That  the 
latter  may  be  set  up  visibly  on  the  earth  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  subject  of  more  than  one  prayer.  Perhaps  the 
most  significant  expression  of  this  aspiration  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  Kaddish  prayer,  which  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
and  most  frequently  repeated  in  the  Jewish  Liturgy. 
According  to  this  the  consummation  of  religion  will  only 
be  reached  when  God's  name  is  sanctified  throughout  the 
world.  The  petition  regarding  the  divine  sovereignty 
runs  thus  : 

And  may  He  (God)  set  up  His  sovereignty  in  your  lifetime, 
and  in  your  days,  and  in  the  lifetime  of  the  whole  House  of 
Israel,  even  speedily  and  soon. 

The  hopes  of  the  people  for  the  realization  of  the 
ideal  future  were  set  upon  the  appearing  of  the  Messiah, 
who  would  restore  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  and  extend  it 
over  the  whole  earth.  Before  this  can  be  accomplished, 
however,  a  last  great  battle  must  be  fought  against  the 
heathen  powers  who  are  hostile  to  the  estabhshmentof  the 
kingdom.  When  the  Messianic  Age  dawns  it  will  usher 
in  a  period  of  great  felicity. 

These  hopes  were  shared  by  some  of  the  Rabbis,  but 
are  reflected  most  fully  in  the  apocalyptic  writings.  The 
Rabbinical  Teachers  as  a  whole  were  more  deeply  con- 
cerned with  God's  rule  as  a  present  reality.  They 
interested  themselves  in  the  present  rather  than  in  the 
future.     Whereas  the  apocalyptic  writers  loved  to  forget 


216    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

the  grey  realities  of  the  current  age  in  the  glories  of  the 
future  era,  which  were  painted  in  great  detail  and  in 
gorgeous  colours,  the  sober  teacher  of  the  law  expended 
his  energies  on  reducing  the  precepts  of  the  Torah  to 
practice,  and  extending  the  range  of  its  practical  applica- 
tion. It  would  almost  seem  as  if  the  Rabbinical  Teachers 
in  some  cases  conceived  the  ideal  future  as  the  result  of  a 
gradual  process  which  is  bound  up  with  the  study  of  the 
Law.  In  the  one  case  an  evolutionary,  in  the  other  a 
catastrophic  conception  of  the  future  prevailed. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Rabbinical  conception  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  was  not  primarily  a  political  one.  Any 
form  of  government  that  was  compatible  with  the  divine 
sovereignty  would  have  been  regarded  by  them  as  a  proper 
one.  But  they  were  profoundly  dissatisfied  with  all 
forms  of  government  (Jewish  as  well  as  heathen)  such 
as,  on  the  whole,  had  hitherto  been  experienced  ;  and 
they  looked  to  the  future  for  something  better.' 

II.  The  Eschatological  Drama. 
It  was  to  the  apocalyptists  that  the  development  of 
the  drama  of  the  last  things — with  all  its  wealth  of  detail 
and  supernatural  colouring — was  primarily  due.  The 
apocalyptic  writers  were  profound  and  eager  students 
of  the  prophetic  writings,  and  adapted  many  details 
in  their  eschatological  scheme  to  data  derived  from  the 
prophetic  literature.  Their  supreme  interest  was,  as  has 
already  been  said,  in  the  great  final  consummation,  and 
they  framed  a  vast  and  in  many  respects  sublime  system, 
embodying  a  philosophy  of  history,  and  embracing  past, 
present  and  future.  It  was,  of  course,  on  the  future  that 
their  hopes  and  their  interests  were  mainly  fixed.  In  the 
Talmud  they  are  reproached  as  "  calculators  of  the 
[Messianic]  ends  "   {mechashebe  ketsim  :  Sank.  97**) — i.e., 

1  They  were  recruited  mainly,  it  would  seem,  from  the  ranks  of 
'he  Chasidim  or  "pious." 


WORLD-EPOCHS  217 

men  who  devoted  and  committed  themselves  to  calculations 
regarding  the  more  or  less  immediate  future  which  led 
to  mistakes  and  disappointments  among  the  people. 

{a)  World-Epochs. 

Various  schemes  by  which  the  history  of  the  world  was 
divided  according  to  certain  fixed  periods— weeks  or 
millenniums — were  framed,  and  this  is  a  common  feature 
of  apocalyptic  writings.  Thus  the  author  of  the  third  section 
of  the  Book  of  Enoch  (chaps.  91-105)  divides  human 
history  into  ten  weeks.  Seven  of  these  had  already  passed ; 
the  eighth  was  to  be  one  of  universal  righteousness,  when 
the  Saints  would  reign  on  the  earth.  The  ninth  week 
was  to  open  with  the  great  Judgment  :  The  former 
heaven  and  earth  were  to  pass  away,  and  a  new  heaven, 
peopled  by  the  righteous  dead  (after  their  resurrection) 
was  to  succeed.  Another  scheme  divided  the  history 
into  a  world-week  of  seven  millenniums,  corresponding 
with  the  week  of  Creation  (a  day=a  thousand  years 
Ps.  90^ ;  2  Peter  3^).  According  to  this  view  the  present 
world  of  suffering  and  toil  {'olam  ha-zeh  =  "  this  world  ") 
is  to  be  succeeded  by  a  Sabbatical  Millennium,  the"  World 
to  come  "  {'olam  ha-ba).  The  six  thousand  years,  again, 
which  covered  the  entire  history  of  the  present  world, 
were  divided  into  three  periods  of  two  thousand  years 
each  ;  the  first  without  the  Law,  the  next  under  the 
Law,  and  the  last  a  period  of  struggle  and  catastrophe 
preparatory  to  the  rule  of  the  Messiah. 

All  the  apocalyptic  writings  agree  in  depicting  the 
Messianic  Age  as  being  preceded  by  a  time  of  "  travail," 
called  the  "  birth-pangs,"  or  sufferings  of  the  Messiah 
[Chehle  ha-Meshiach  or  Chehlo  shel  Mashiach,  Pesikta 
rabbati  21,  34,  Shabbath  iiS"* ;  cf.  Matt  24^  Mark  13^  : 
All  these  things  are  the  beginning  of  travail).  This  idea 
was  apparently  deduced  by  the  apocalyptic  writers 
from  certain  passages  in  the  Prophets  (Hos.  13^^  ff. ; 
Joel2'°ff.  ;  Mic.  7^-^;  Zech.  I4«  ff.  ;  Dan.  I2»),  but  the 
use    made    of    this    material    is    due    to   the  particular 


218    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

view  of  the  world's  history  held  by  the  apocalyptists. ' 
Many  descriptions  of  these  Messianic  woes  are  given' 
e.g.,  Book  of  Jubilees  2o""25  •  Enoch  1  ff.  ;  99^  ff., 
2  Esdras  5,  6.  Cf.  Matt.  24^-^^ ;  Rev.  6-9,  and  in  the 
Talmud,  Sanhedrin  96*^-97^  In  the  Midrash  on  the 
Psalms  (on  Ps.  2^)  it  is  said  :  "A  third  part  of  all 
the  world's  woes  will  come  in  the  generation  of  the 
Messiah."  The  evil  portents  include  visions  of  blood  and 
of  warfare  in  the  sky  (cf.  Luke,  2i2»  ff.,  esp.  verse  25  : 
And  there  shall  he  signs  in  sun  and  jnoon  and  stars  ;  and 
upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations,  in  perplexity  for  the 
roaring  of  the  sea  and  the  billows  .  .  .  the  powers  of  the 
heaven  shall  he  shaken).  "  The  sword,  famine,  earth- 
quake, and  fire  "  are  particularly  mentioned  (cf.  Apoc. 
of  Baruch  2^'^'^);  but,  above  all,  moral  declension 
and  universal  corruption  are  anticipated.  In  the  "  last 
days "  false  prophets,  especially  pseudo-Messiahs  will 
appear,  the  anti-Christ  will  be  manifested,  and  so  on. 

{h)     The  War  of  Gog  and  Magog. 

One  of  the  most  important  moments  in  the  eschato- 
logical  drama  is  assigned  to  the  great  final  conflict  with 
the  forces  of  the  heathen  nations  ranged  under  Gog  and 
Magog  (cf.  Ezek.  38^^).  In  this  connexion  the  great 
heathen  world-powers  were  more  especially  thought  of, 
and  in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  of  course,  the  repre- 
sentative heathen  oppressive  power  was  the  Syrian-Greek 
empire  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  ;  but  this  soon  disap- 
peared, and  its  place  was  later  taken  by  Rome.  In 
Jewish  literature  Rome  is  usually  symbolized  by  Edom  ; 
the  struggle  of  Jacob  and  Esau  in  the  womb  represents 
the  conflict  between  Israel  and  Rome   (cf.  2  (4)  Esdras, 


1  The  meaning  assigned  to  the  expression  "  birth-pangs  of  the 
Messiah  "  is,  perhaps,  a  later  figurative  adaptation  of  what  was  in 
the  first  place  understood  literally.  It  may  be  a  survival  of  the 
myth  wherein  the  birth  of  the  Messiah  of  the  "  woman  "  was  de- 
scribed. Cf.  Rev.  I2if.,  and  see  Gressman,  Der  Ursprung  der 
israelitisch-jiiclischen  Eschalologie  (1905),  p.  2S4. 


ANNIHILATION    OF  THE   HEATHEN        219 

6^"^",  a  very  interesting  passage  containing  a  cryptic  refer- 
ence to  Rome,  cf.  also  12").  In  New  Testament  times 
Messianic  prophecy  was  directed  against  Rome  (cf.  Rev. 
13,  17,  18,  19  1'  ff.,  esp.  the  number  of  the  Beast  666  = 
probably  a  cryptogram  for  Nero  Caesar,  13^^).'  Here  Gog 
and  Magog  reappear  in  the  Johannine  Ap(;calypse  (cf. 
Rev.  20 "~^",  see  also  16^'*).  The  annihilation  of  the 
heathen  nations  is  usually  represented  as  being  effected 
either  by  war  or  by  penal  judgment ;  the  pious  are  not 
often  pictured  as  waging  the  war  themselves  (cf.,  how- 
ever, Enoch  qo^^)  ;  in  most  cases  supernatural  powers 
are  employed,  either  the  archangel  Michael,  Israel's 
patron  (Dan.  I2^  Rev.  14^*),  or,  more  frequently,  God 
Himself  (Enoch  62^^)  During  this  time  the  righteous 
people  are  hidden  away,  an  idea  that  was  already  present, 
apparently,  in  the  eschatological  passage  Is.  26^*^  {Come  my 
people,  enter  into  thy  chambers,  and  shut  thy  doors  abotit 
thee  ;  hide  thyself  for  a  little  moment  until  the  indignation 
be  over-past ;  Zech.  142  ff.  ;  the  same  idea  can  be  seen  in 
the  flight  of  the  righteous  in  Mark  13^*"^",  Rev.  12^-'^  ff.). 

In  the  apocalyptic  conception  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
so  far  as  it  is  locahzed,  is  apparently  confined  to  the  Holy 
Land  (cf.  Job.  i3«-i8  ;  14^-8;  Zech.  I4«-"  and  even  Matt. 
19*^^ :  In  the  regeneration  ye  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel).  At  this  point  the  inter- 
esting question  arises,  what,  in  the  apocalyptic  conception, 
is  to  be  the  fate  of  the  nations  at  the  end  ?  The  answer  is, 
the  apocalyptic  writers  are  not  primarily  interested  in  this 
aspect  of  the  matter,  as  a  rule.     For  them  it  is  sufficient 


*  See,  however,  the  elaborate  discussion  of  this  point  in  Gunkel 
Schopfung  und  Chaos,  pp.  282-379,  who  argues  strongly  that  666 
is  a  cryptogram  for  Tehont  Kadynoniyyah  ("the  Primeval  Ocean  "). 
Possibly  both  explanations  are  right,  the  earlier  mythological 
notion  being  adopted  by  the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse  in  a 
specially  anti-Roman  sense.  The  primeval  ocean  which  was  the 
ancient  embodiment  of  ruthless  and  destructive  power  would  be 
thus  identified  with  its  latest  Roman  e.xemplar  in  the  persons  of 
Nero  CjEsar. 


v/ 


220    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

that  the  evil  and  oppressive  world-powers  are  destroyed, 
and  room  is  made  for  the  righteous  Israelitish  community  ; 
the  conversion  of  the  heathen  is  seldom  mentioned.  There 
are,  however,  some  exceptions  to  this  rule  ;  thus,  in  Tob. 
14*  we  read,  And  all  the  nations  shall  turn  to  fear  the  Lord 
God  truly,  and  shall  bury  their  idols  ;  again  in  Enoch 
lo^i,  "  And  all  the  children  of  men  shall  become  righteous, 
and  all  nations  shall  offer  me  adoration  and  praise,  and  all 
win  worship  me  "  ;  further  in  Enoch  48  '^~^,  "  He  shall  be 
a  staff  to  the  righteous  on  which  they  will  support  them- 
selves and  not  fall,  and  he  will  be  the  Light  of  the  Gentiles 
and  the  hope  of  those  who  are  troubled  in  heart.  All 
who  dwell  on  earth  will  fall  down  and  bow  the  knee  before 
Him,  and  will  bless  and  laud  and  celebrate  with  song  the 
Lord  of  the  spirits,"  cf.  Luke  2^2.  Rabbinical  Judaism 
was,  on  the  whole,  less  favourable  ;  thus  we  read  in  the 
TAmnd,  Ahodah  Zarah  S'',  "  In  the  Messianic  time  no  prose- 
lytes will  be  received."  ^  It  is  interesting  to  notice  in 
this  connexion  that  the  Sibylline  Oracles,  which  represent 
the  best  side  of  the  Hellenistic  spirit,  display  a  real  interest 
in  the  Conversion  of  the  Gentiles  ;  the  heathen  are  exhorted 
to  repent  ;  the  same  spirit  is  displayed  as  in  the  passage 
of  the  book  of  Enoch  (48  ^-^)  quoted  above,  cf.  also  2  (4) 
Esdras  1326-29  •  ^ut,  as  a  rule,  where  the  annihilation 
of  the  heathen  is  not  contemplated,  they  are  regarded  as 
destined  to  become  tribute-bearing  vassals  of  the  Israelitish 
Empire.  Their  kings  are  to  bring  tributes  and  gifts  to 
Jerusalem,  cf.  Is.  60^ ;  Matt.  2  ;  according  to  Zech.  14^^  ff. 
all  nations  will  come  yearly  to  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
(cf.  2  (4)  Esdras  13^  ;    Rev.  21  f.,^*  222). 

On  the  whole,  the  feeling  of  the  Apocalyptic  writers 
seems  to  have  been  that  some  non-Israelitish  nations  would 
survive  in  the  Messianic  period.  Only  Israel's  enemies 
would    be    annihilated,   cf.    Apocalypse    of    Baruch  72^  : 

1  In  justice  to  the  Rabbis,  however,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  passages  breathing  a  loftier  spirit  have  been  admitted  into 
the  Liturgy  ;    see  above,  section  i  of  this  chapter. 


THE    INGATHERING   OF   ISRAEL  221 

"  Every  nation  that  knows  not  Israel  and  has  not  oppressed 
the  race  of  Jacob  shall  be  spared "  (for  a  Christian 
application  of  this  idea  cf.  Matth.  25^^"*®).  Jochanan 
b.  Zakkai  in  a  dispute  regarding  Prov.  14^*  maintained 
that  in  the  case  of  the  heathen  kindness  and  compassion 
possessed  the  same  significance  as  the  sin-offering  for 
Israel  {Pesikta  12^  ;  Baha  bathra  10'')  ■ 

{c)  The  Ingathering  of  Israel. 

Stress  is  laid  on  the  purity  of  the  land  which  will  charac- 
terize the  Messianic  period*.  This  will  be  secured  by,  among 
other  means,  the  removal  of  all  heathen  and  strangers  from 
it.  The  heathen  may  make  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land 
and  to  Jerusalem  ;  but  only  the  bom  Israelite  is  to  dwell 
in  the  land.      Cf.  Psalms  of  Solomon    17^^ :    "  And  the 

sojourner  and  the  stranger  shall  dwell  with  them  no  morej^' J 

(cf.  Joel  3^' ;  Bk.  of  Jubilees  23^",  50^).  In  intimate 
connexion  with  this  idea  is  the  hope  of  the  ingathering  of 
IsraeUtes,  scattered  throughout  the  world.  This  already 
comes  to  view  in  Old  Testament  Prophecy  (cf.  Is.  11^^"^^, 
27^^  35M.  ;  Micah  712 ;  Ezek.  392';  Zech.  io«-"). 
The  passage  Is.  27  ^^  ("  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
day  that  a  great  trumpet  shall  be  blown  ;  and  they  shall 
come  which  were  lost  in  the  land  of  Assyria,  and  they 
that  were  outcasts  in  the  land  of  Egypt  ;  and  they  shall 
worship  the  Lord  in  the  holy  mountain  at  Jerusalem  ") 
seems  to  have  been  especially  influential  in  the  subsequent 
period.  Some  passages  in  Deutero-Isaiah  are  also  note- 
worthy in  this  connexion,  esp.  49^2,  6o*'  ^,  and  66-", 
where  it  is  anticipated  that  the  heathen  wiU  themselves 
escort  the  exiles  back.  Thus  the  ingathering  of  the 
dispersed  Israelites  became  a  regular  and  permanent  feature 
of  the  picture  of  the  Messianic  future.  It  comes  to  expres- 
sion in  the  apocryphal  books  (cf.  Tobit  13^^,  14^  ;  Ecclus. 
36").      Among  the  pseudepigraphic  books  special  mention 

1  Sin  will  be  no  more,  for  "  the  Lord  will  shake  the  land  of  Israel 
and  cleanse  it  from  all  impurity  "  (Ptrke  R.  Ebezer  xxxiv,  21, 
cited  in  JE,  v,  215). 


222    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

may  here  be  made  of  the  nth  and  17th  of  the  Psalms  of 
Solomon.  A  striking  feature  in  the  representation  is  the 
employment  of  the  trumpet-blast  as  a  means  for  gathering 
the  exiles  together.  Cf.  the  passage  cited  above,  Is.  27^=^. 
This  also  appears  in  the  Psalter  of  Solomon,  and  in 
the  orthodox  Jewish  Liturgy  in  the  loth  of  the  "  Eighteen 
Blessings  "  which  runs  as  follows  : — 

Sound  the  great  horn  for  our  freedom  ;    lift  up  the  ensign 

to  gather  our  exiles,  and  gather  us  from  the  four  corners  of 

the  earth  (Singer  p.  48). 

With  this  should  be  compared  Matt.  24^^ :  "  Then  shall 
He  send  forth  His  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet." 
It  should  be  added  that  in  the  eschatological  passages  the 
task  of  gathering  together  the  elect  is  sometimes  assigned 
to  the  Messiah,  sometimes  to  Elijah, 
(d)  The  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  and  the 
felicity  of  the  Messianic  Age. 
One  great  hope  associated  with  the  Messianic  Age 
was  that  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  would  be  rebuilt. 
Such  prophecies  as  Ezek.  40-44,  and  47,  Is.  54"  f., 
60^°  f.,  which  suggest  the  prospect  of  a  new  and 
glorious  city  and  a  restored  Temple- worship,  strongly 
fostered  such  hopes.  In  Haggai  2'"^  the  consciousness 
that  the  second  Temple  (before  its  restoration  by  Herod) 
compared  unfavourably  with  the  first  is  already  apparent 
(cf.  also  Tobit  14^).  It  was  expected  that  a  new  and 
glorious  Jerusalem  would  be  built  in  the  Messianic  age, 
of  sapphires,  gold,  and  precious  stones,  etc.  (cf.  Tobit 
1315  f.,  14* ;  Rev.  21  ^^").  This  is  identical  with  the 
"  new  "  or  "  upper'"  Jerusalem  ("  the  Jerusalem  that  is 
above  "),  which  is  referred  to  in  Gal.  4^^ ,  Heb.  12^^,  which 
had  been  seen  in  vision  by  Adam,  Abraham  and  Moses 
(x\pocalypse  of  Baruch  42^),  and  which  will  be  made 
manifest  in  all  its  glory  by  the  Messiah  (cf.  2  (4)  Esdras  y^^ ; 
Apocalypse  of  Baruch  32*).  In  later  times,  after  the 
complete  destruction  of  both  city  and  Temple  this  hope 
came  to  even  more  vivid  expression.     The  restoration  of 


THE   FELICITY   OF   THE   MESSIANIC   AGE    223 

the  Holy  City,  and  especially  of  the  Temple-worship,  long 
continued  to  be  an  object  of  pious  hopes  and  prayers. 
These  have  secured  a  permanent  place  in  the  Liturgy, 
especially  in  the  14th  and  17th  Petitions  of  the  Shemoneh 
'Esrch  (Singer  p.  49  f) . 

And  to  Jerusalem,  Thy  city,  return  in  mercy,  and  dwell 
therein  as  Thou  hast  spoken  ;  rebuild  it  soon  in  our  days  as 
an  everlasting  building,  and  speedily  set  up  therein  the 
throne  of  Daviil. 

And  again  : 

Accept,  O  Lord  our  God,  Thy  people  Israel  and  their 
prayer  ;  restore  the  service  to  the  oracle  of  Thy  House,  and 
receive  in  love  and  favour  both  the  fire-offerings  of  Israel 
and  their  prayer  ;  and  may  the  service  of  Thy  people  Israel 
be  ever  acceptable  unto  Thee.  And  let  our  eyes  behold  Thy 
return  in  mercy  to  Zion. 

According  to  Lev.  Rabhah  ix,  the  Messiah  will  himself 
re-erect  the  Temple. 

The  felicity  of  the  Messianic  Age,  is  painted  in  gorgeous 
colours  in  the  Apocalyptic  writings  (cf.  Zech.  14  ;  Bk. 
of  Enoch,  chaps.  5,  10,  90 ;  Book  of  Jubilees  23 ; 
Apocalypse  of  Baruch,  chaps.  27-29,  39-40,  72-73  ; 
Rev.  20'*'^).  It  wiU  be  a  time  of  universal  peace,  which 
will  include  even  the  animal  creation.  Sorrow  and 
tribulation  will  be  at  an  end,  and  material  plenty 
will  abound.  Both  earth  and  man  will  be  blessed  with 
wondrous  fertihty  and  vigour  (cf.  esp.  Enoch  lo^'"^"). 
It  will  also  be  a  time  of  spiritual  blessing.  Thus,  according 
to  Niimhers  rabbah  xv,  Israel's  sons  and  daughters  will 
then  prophesy.  God's  immediate  presence  among  His 
people  will  be  experienced  as  an  intimate  reality  (Jubilees 
j28  •  cf.  ji',  i24  f )  In  the  midrash  on  the  Psalms  {Midr. 
Tehillim  xxi)  the  noble  hope  is  expressed  that  the  Messiah 
will  himself  teach  the  nations  the  Noachian  laws  of 
humanity  and  make  all  men  disciples  of  the  Lord. 

In  official  circles,  no  doubt  was  entertained  regarding 
the  position  of  the  Law  in  the  Messianic  period.  It  was 
assumed  that  its  requirements — in  particular  the  sacrificial 
and    priest]}'    laws— would    be    strictly  observed.       But 


224     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

sometimes  another  and  remarkable  view  is  met  with,  viz. 
that  a  new  Law  would  be  proclaimed  by  the  Messiah. 
"  Ye  shall  receive  a  new  Law  from  the  Elect  One  of  the 
righteous,"  runs  the  Targum  to  Isa.  12^.  A  Midrashic 
passage  commenting  on  Ecclesiastes  ii^  ("All  is  vanity  ") 
declares  :  "  The  Law  which  man  learns  in  this  world  is 
nothing  in  comparison  with  the  Law  of  the  Messiah  " 
{Midr.  Kohcl.  on  ii^). 

{e)  The  Future  Life. 

An  integral  part  of  the  Messianic  hope  was  the  doctrine 
of  a  resurrection  (cf.  Isa.  24^",  Dan.  12^).  This  first 
assumed  definite  form,  apparently,  under  the  impulse 
of  the  idea  that  those  who  had  suffered  martyrdom  for  the 
Law  were  worthy  to  share  in  the  future  glories  of  Israel. 
In  the  crudest  form  of  the  doctrine  the  resurrection  was 
confined  to  the  Holy  Land — those  buried  elsewhere  would 
have  to  burrow  through  the  ground  to  Palestine — and  to 
Israelites.  And  the  trumpet-blast  which  was  to  be  the 
signal  for  the  ingathering  of  the  exiles  would  also  rouse 
the  sleeping  dead  (cf.  Ber.  15^  ;  2  (4)Esdras  4^^  f.  ;  i  Cor. 
15^2-  J  Thess.  4^®).  According  to  the  older  view  the 
Kingdom  was  to  follow  the  resurrection  and  judgment ; 
but  the  later  and  more  widely  held  one  was  that  a  tem- 
porary Messianic  Kingdom  would  be  estabhshed  on  the 
earth  which  would  be  followed  by  the  Last  Judgment 
and  the  Resurrection.  The  Messiah  himself  was  to  judge 
the  nations,  who,  together  with  their  guardian-angels 
and  stars,  are  destined  to  be  cast  into  Gehenna.  "  The 
end  of  the  judgment  of  the  heathen  is  the  estabhshment 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  .  .  .  The  Messiah  will  cast  Satan 
into  Gehenna,  and  death  and  sorrow  flee  for  ever."  ^ 

In  later  times  behef  in  a  universal  Resurrection  became 
prevalent.  Thus  R.  EHezer  ha-  Kappar  says :  Those 
who  are  bom  are  destined  to  die ;  and  the  dead  to  live 
again  "   {Pirke  Ahoth  iv,  31)  :    and  the  behef  has  been 

'  JE,  V,  215. 


RESURRECTION   AND   JUDGMENT         225 

embodied  in  the  "  Thirteen  Principles  of  the  Faith " 
known  as  the  "  Creed  of  Maimonides."  ^ 

According  to  2  (4)  Esdras  7^6-36  the  400  years  of  the 
Messiah's  reign  will  be  closed  by  his  death  ;  after  an 
interval  of  universal  death,  the  earth  will  give  up  its  dead, 
and  God  will  exercise  judgment,  and  the  evil  doers  will 
be  consigned  to  the  pit  of  hell,  while  the  righteous  will 
enter  paradise  which  is  on  the  opposite  side.  All  evil  doers 
incur  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  fate  of  the  righteous 
among  the  heathen  was  a  matter  of  dispute.  As  has 
already  been  pointed  out  the  Resurrection  and  the  Judg- 
ment, according  to  the  later  and  more  prevalent  view, 
were  conceived  as  closing  the  Messianic  period.  This 
was  to  be  followed  by  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth. 
In  Jewish  eschatology  the  Resurrection  was  combined 
with  the  Last  Judgment  :  "  God  summons  the  soul 
from  heaven  and  couples  it  again  on  earth  with  the  body 
to  bring  man  to  judgment "  {Sank,  gi"^)  2.  On  "  the 
day  of  the  Great  Judgment"  angels  as  well  as  men  will 
be  judged,  and  the  books  opened,  containing  the  records 
of  men's  deeds,  for  life  or  for  death. ^ 

A  doctrine  regarding  an  intermediate  state  was  also 
developed.  It  became  necessary  to  define  more  clearly 
the  state  and  condition  of  souls  between  Death  and 
Resurrection.  The  Jews  of  course,  inherited  the  belief 
that  the  soul  after  death,  descends  to  Sheol,  the  place  of 
departed  spirits.  But  Sheol  originally  was  thought  of 
merely  as  a  land  of  shadows,  where  all  distinctions  ceased 
to  exist.  Such  a  view  could  not  long  satisfy  the  yearnings 
of  individual  piety,  and  it  became  necessary  to  recognize 
distinctions  in  Sheol.  Perhaps  in  Ps.  16^"  there  is  already 
a  hint  of  some  partition.     In  the  Apocalyptic  books  this  is 

1  Singer  p.  89  f.     It  forms  the  13th  clause. 

2  Cited  in  JE,  ibid.  Cf.  the  first  of  the  parables  quoted  in  eh.  v. 
§  3  above. 

'  Cf.  what  is  said  on  the  subject  of  the  New  Year  regarded  as 
the  Day  of  Judgment,  chap,  xx,  §1. 


226    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

clearly  defined.  In  the  Book  of  Enoch,  e.g.,  there  is  a 
fourfold  division  ;  three  of  these  divisions  are  gloomy  and 
one  bright.     A  purgatory  of  fire  was  even  contemplated. 

In  the  eschatological  development  which  took  place 
during  the  first  century  B.C.  Paradise  came  to  be  regarded 
as  the  abode  of  the  righteous  and  elect  in  the  intermediate 
state  :  hence  they  pass  to  the  Messianic  kingdom  and 
after  the  final  judgment  to  heaven.  The  views  prevailing 
with  regard  to  Sheol  at  this  period  were  varying  and  incon- 
sistent. Sometimes  it  is  looked  upon  as  the  intermediate 
abode  of  the  departed  ;  sometimes  it  is  identified  with 
Hell  or  Gehenna.  The  latter  was  regarded  as  a  place  of 
punishment — originally  as  a  place  of  torment  for  Jewish 
apostates,  whose  sufferings  "  were  to  form  an  ever-present 
spectacle  to  the  righteous"  (Charles) ;  afterwards  it  came 
to  be  looked  upon  as  a  place  of  spiritual  punishment. 

In  Rabbinic  as  well  as  apocalyptic  literature  the  bliss 
of  the  righteous  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  [Gan  Eden) ,  the 
Heavenly  Paradise,  is  painted  in  brilliant  colours  (cf. 
Pes.  54""  :  and  esp.  the  Slavonic  Enoch).  According  to  2 
(4)  Esdras  6  it  was  created  at  the  beginning,  and  will  be 
revealed  suddenly  on  the  Judgment  Day.  Many  details  are 
given  in  Rabbinical  Literature  of  the  heavenly  food  and 
the  "  banquet  of  the  leviathan  "  which  the  righteous 
are  destined  to  enjoy  (cf.  Job.  4^^).^  These  materiahstic 
features  were  later  spirituahzed. 

On  all  these  points  the  orthodox  Judaism  of  the  post- 
Talmudic  period  is  very  vague  and  indefinite.  Even 
the  doctrine  of  a  bodily  resurrection  has  not  maintained 
its  hold  over  the  philosophers  of  Judaism,  the  old 
Alexandrine  view  of  a  blessed  and  purely  spiritual 
immortaHty  being  preferred.  But  the  idea  of  the  soul's 
persistence   after  death   has  always   been  firmly    held.'* 


1  Cf.  Jer.,  Targum  to  Num.   ii^".    Enoch  60'  f. 

2  Cf.,  on  these  points  I.  Abrahams,  Judaism  (1907)  chap,  vii 
(Eschatology). 


THE    "  AMIDAH  "-PRAYER  227 

Judaism  in  fact  concerns  itself  much  more  actively  with 
the  living  than  the  dead.  This  can  be  seen  clearly  in  the 
emphasis  that  is  laid  on  the  idea  of  judgment  as  it 
concerns  the  living  (cf .  what  is  said  regarding  the  New  Year 
celebration  and  Day  of  Atonement  in  ch.  XX) :  the  same 
remark  applies  also  to  the  customs  connected  with  the 
commemoration  of  the  dead  (ibid.).  The  restrained 
attitude  of  Jewish  piety  on  these  points  comes  out  clearly 
in  the  two  following  pieces  from  the  Prayer-Book  with 
which  this  chapter  must  close.  The  first  is  an  ancient 
and  beautiful  prayer  recited  in  the  morning  (originally 
in  private)  : 

O  my  God,  the  soul  which  Thou  gavest  me  is  pure  ;  Thou 
didst  create  it,  Thou  didst  form  it,  Thou  didst  breathe  it  into 
me  ;  Thou  preservest  it  within  me  ;  and  Thou  wilt  take  it 
from  me,  but  wilt  restore  it  unto  me  hereafter.  So  long  as 
the  soul  is  within  me,  I  will  give  thanks  unto  Thee,  O  Lord 
my  God,  and  God  of  my  fathers,  sovereign  of  all  works,  Lord 
of  all  souls  !  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord,  who  restorest  souls 
to  dead  bodies  (cf.  Singer,  p.  5). 

The  following  forms  the  second  petition  of  the  great 
Amidah-VTa.yeT  (the  so-called  "  Eighteen  Blessings  "), 
which  is  repeated  three  times  daily  :  ' 

Thou,  O  Lord,  art  mighty  for  ever,  Thou  quickenest  the 
dead,  Thou  art  mighty  to  save. 

Thou  sustainest  the  living  with  loving-kindness,  quickenest 
the  dead  with  great  mercy,  supportest  the  falling,  healest  the 
sick,  loosest  the  bound,  and  keepest  Thy  faith  to  them  that 
sleep  in  the  dust. 

Who  is  like  unto  Thee,  Lord  of  mighty  acts,  and  who 
resembleth  Thee,  O  King  Who  killest  and  quickenest,  and 
causest  salvation  to  spring  forth  ?  Yea,  faithful  art  Thou 
to  quicken  the  dead  (Singer,  p.  44). 

Additional  Note. 
The  following  summary  -  of  the  three  main  views  regarding 
the  life  after  death  may  be  found  convenient. 

^  This  clause  is  also  repeated  in  the  funeral  service. 

2  Cf.  an  essay  by  Prof.  J.  T.  Marshall  on  "  Some  Jewish 
Religious  Beliefs  in  the  Time  of  Christ,"  in  a  volume  of  Theo- 
logical Lectures  deUvered  at  Manchester  University  (ed.  by  Prof. 
Peake). 


228     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

1.  The  Sadducean  (conservative)  view  was  that  at  death 
the  souls  of  men  enter  on  an  eternal  sleep,  from  which  there 
is  no  resurrection.  This  view  is  found  in  Baruch,  Tobit, 
Ecclesiasticus  and  i  Maccabees. 

2.  The  Alexandrine  view  (immortality)  was  that  at  death 
men  meet  with  the  retribution  merited  in  this  life.  The 
righteous  are  beatified,  while  the  wicked  receive  tribulation 
and  anguish.  This  is  final  for  each  class.  There  is  no 
resurrection.  This  view  is  represented  in  Wisdom,  4 
Maccabees,  and  Philo. 

3.  The  Pharisaic  view,  and  the  one  popular  in  Palestine 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  was  that  the  souls  of  man  enter  at 
death  on  a  state  of  happiness  or  misery  in  Hades,  from  which 
there  is  for  both  a  resurrection.  This  view  is  found  in  the 
Book  of  Enoch,  2  Maccabees,  the  Apocalypse  of  Baruch,  2 
(4)  Esdras,  and  the  Psalter  of  Solomon. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Jewish  Doctrine  of  Sin. 

The  Comprehensive  Character  of  the  Subject— The  Teaching  of  the 
Old  Testament — Perplexing  Character  of  the  Teaching  in 
Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha— Rabbinical  Teaching— The 
Doctrine  of  the  Jetser  hara' — The  Doctrine  of  Zecuth — Fundamental 
Difference  between  Jewish  and  Christian  Teaching — Modern 
Jewish  Teaching  on  the  Subject. 

[Literature  : — Weber  pp.  259-334  ;  Montefiore  in  JQR,  xvi 
(Jan.  1904),  pp.  209-257,  "Rabbinic  Conception.s  of 
Repentance";  Porter,  The  Jecer  Hara\  a  Study  in  the 
Jewish  Doctrine  of  Sin  (1901)  ;  Bousset,  pp.  277-290, 
351-374.  391-404;  Box,  Th&  Spiritual  Value  and  Teach- 
ing of  the  Jewish  Prayer  Book  (Longmans),  pp.  14,  36ff. ;  and 
Dalman's  Christianity  and  Judaism  (Eng.  transl.)  pp.  53ff.] 

In  dealing  with  a  subject  of  such  vastness  as  this  we  can 
do  little  more  than  point  out  some  of  its  main  facts  and 
leading  conceptions.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  insist 
upon  the  fact  that  the  Christian  doctrine  of  Sin  cannot 
be  adequately  understood  or  taught  without  a  study  of 
the  Jewish  doctrine  ;  the  significance  of  the  Christian 
teaching  can  only  be  apprehended  when  its  contrast  to 
the  Jewish  is  realized.  It  is  a  subject  which  is  so  closely 
connected  with  those  of  Forgiveness,  Atonement,  Recon- 
ciUation,  Justification,  the  efficacy  of  Works,  Grace,  and 
Free-will,  that  for  practical  purposes  it  will  be  best  to 
deal  with  all  these  in  their  relationship  with  the  general 
subject  of  this  chapter. 

I.  The  Teaching  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  will  be  clear  to  every  one  that  the  Jewish  doctrine 
of  Sin  is  based  upon  the  earher  teaching  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  more  especially  upon  that  of  the  Law,  i.e. 
the  Pentateuch  ;  we  must  therefore  start  by  enumerating 
some  of  the  more  important  aspects  of  the  Old  Testament 
conceptions  of  Sin. 

229 


230    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

For  a  proper  understanding  of  the  Old  Testament  teach- 
ing on  Sin  it  is  indispensable  that  we  should,  for  the  time 
being,  divest  our  minds  of  what  we  mean  by  Sin  to-day. 
This  is  by  no  means  easy,  yet  the  effort  must  be  made  if 
any  real  insight  into  the  history  and  essence  of  the  subject 
is  to  be  gained. 

We  shall  be  assisted  in  this,  to  some  extent,  if  we  seek 
an  answer  to  the  question  :  Why  were  sacrifices  offered  ? 
— Now,  what  in  the  first  instance  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the 
whole  conception  of  sacrifice  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
the  offering  of  a  gift  to  God.  When  a  man  comes  into 
the  presence  of  Jehovah  he  must  bring  Him  a  present : 
None  shall  appear  before  Me  empty  (Exod.  23^^),  is  a 
precept  which  is  enjoined  throughout  aU  the  ages  of 
Israelite  history.  But  why  should  God  require  gifts  ? 
Firstly,  because  He  demanded  man's  homage.  Just  as 
a  subject  would  offer  a  gift  to  a  King  in  token  of  the 
honour  in  which  he  was  held,  and  the  King  accepted 
what  he  regarded  as  his  due,  so  (it  was  taught)  men  must 
bring  their  offerings  to  God  as  an  act  of  homage  due  to 
Him;  e.g.,  the  Shew-Bread  1  (Exod.  253''). 

Secondly,  God  demanded  sacrifices  as  a  condition  of 
His  favour  towards  men.  Just  as  a  subject  who  brought 
a  present  to  the  King  might  expect  the  King's  good- 
will in  return,  so  (it  was  taught)  God's  favour  was 
to  be  procured  by  means  of  sacrifice  ;  see,  for  example, 
the  instructive  passage  Numbers  28  ^'  ^ :  And  the  Lord 
spake  unto  Moses  saying,  Command  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  say  unto  them,  My  oblation,  my  food  for  my  offerings 
made  by  fire,  of  a  sweet  savour  unto  Me,  shall  ye  observe 
to  offer  unto  Me  in  their  due  season. 

Thirdly,  God  demanded  sacrifices  because  they  averted 
His  wrath  when  men  had  offended  Him.  Just  as  a  sub- 
ject who  had  incurred  the  King's  displeasure  might  ward 


1  The   technical    name    "  Bread    of    the   Presence "   is   very 
suggestive. 


VARIETIES   OF  SACRIFICE  231 

off  punishment  by  bringing  the  King  a  present, '  so  (it  was 
taught)  God's  wrath  could  be  appeased  when  men  had 
offended  Him,  and  He  would  forgive  them,  if  due  sacrifice 
were  offered,  see,  for  example.  Lev.  4  ^^  :  And  all  the  fat 
thereof  shall  he  burn  upon  the  altar  .  .  .  and  the  priest 
shall  make  atonement  for  him  as  concerning  his  sin,  and  he 
shall  he  forgiven,  see  also  verses  31,  35  ;  5^°'  ",  etc., 
etc..  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  instructive  examples 
is  that  contained  in  2  Samuel  14^^"  2^,  see  especially  the 
last  verse  :  And  David  built  there  an  altar  unto  the  Lord, 
and  offered  burnt  offerings  and  peace  offerings.  So  the 
Lord  was  entreated  for  the  land,  and  the  plague  was  stayed 
from  Israel. 

Sacrifices  of  homage,  sacrifices  of  propitiation,  sacrifices 
of  expiation  ;  these,  together  with  the  "  sacrificial  feast  " 
(Zebach)  which  belongs  to  a  different  category  altogether, 
comprise  all  the  varieties  of  sacrifice  in  the  elaborate 
sacrificial  system  of  the  Old  Testament. 

At  present  we  are  concerned  solely  with  the  expiatory 
sacrifices.  Of  what  kind  were  the  offences  against  God 
for  which  these  expiatory  sacrifices  were  required  ?  Very 
briefly  they  may  be  summarized  thus  : 

(i)  Unintentional  transgressions  of  certain  prohibitions. 

(2)  Unintentional  non-observance  of  commands  laid 
down  in  the  Law. 

(3)  Impurity  of  different  kinds,  such  as  leprosy,  child- 
birth, various  diseases,  a  Nazarite  coming  into  contact 
with  a  dead  body,  etc. 

These  and  other  things  of  a  Hke  nature  were  sins  because 
they  were  offences  against  the  holiness  of  God  ;  if  that 
holiness  was  in  any  way  offended  sin  resulted.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  in  early  Israel  the  distinction  between 
what  we  call  intentional  and  unintentional  sin,  as  far  as 


»  It  is  important  to  remember  that  the  ideas  of  kingship  in  the 
Old  Testament  are  always  such  as  are  connected  with  Oriental 
kingship. 


232    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

God  is  concerned,  scarcely  exists.  What  we  now  designate 
moral  delinquencies  were  not  necessarily  sins  in  the  eyes 
of  early  Israel ;  and  in  almost  every  case  ritual  offences 
were  regarded  as  more  grievous  than  moral  ones.  If  one 
man  sinned  against  another,  it  was  a  legal  offence,  and 
the  Law  provided  a  remedy  ;  but  the  idea  that  sin  against 
one's  neighbour  was  also  a  sin  against  God  was  unknown 
in  early  Israel.  It  is  only  in  the  prophetical  period  that 
a  clearer  conception  of  sin  arises.  Again,  in  early  Israel 
a  conviction  of  having  sinned  does  not  arise  in  the  mind 
of  a  man  until  he  sees  what  he  believes  to  be  the  punish- 
ment for  it  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  manifestation  of  God's 
wrath,  in  the  form  of  sickness  or  calamity.^  He  may  or 
may  not  then  be  able  to  recall  some  offence  that  he  has 
committed  ;  it  does  not  matter  whether  he  can  or  not, 
for  he  is  quite  certain  that  he  must  have  committed  it. 
The  only  thing  to  be  done  is  to  offer  a  sacrifice. 

It  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  doubted  that  we  have  here 
a  part,  but  only  a  part,  of  the  truth — see  i  Cor.  ii^^-  3" — 
but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  abundantly  clear  that  in  the 
eariiest  periods  of  IsraeHte  history  sin  and  sinfulness  do 
not  mean  what  we  understand  by  those   terms  to-day. 

When  we  turn  to  the  prophetical  teaching  on  Sin  we 
find,  indeed,  that  an  immense  advance  has  taken  place  ; 
the  whole  relationship  between  God  and  man  has 
undergone  a  great  change  ;  the  ethical  standpoint  of  the 
prophets  is  immeasurably  higher  than  what  went  before  ; 
their  conception  of  God  and  His  holiness  is  utterly 
different  from  the  beliefs  of  earlier  times  ;  moral  and 
ritual  offences  are  not  merely  differentiated,  but  they 
are  seen  in  their  true  proportion.  But  even  so  and  in 
spite  of  this  immense  advance,  the  prophetical  teaching 
on  Sin  and  Sinfulness  shows  that  here,  too,  something 
very  different  was  meant  from  what  we  nowadays  under- 
stand by  the  terms.     We  cannot  do  better  than  give,  as 

^  See,  for  example,  2  Sam.   I2''ii. 


EARLY    ISRAELITE   IDEAS   OF   SIN        233 

illustrating,  for  example,  the  teaching  of  Isaiah  on  the 
subject,  the  following  extract  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the 
most  notable  authorities  on  the  Old  Testament  :  "  The 
limitation  of  Isaiah's  conception  of  the  divine  judgment 
leads  us  at  once  to  observe  the  corresponding  limitation 
in  his  use  of  the  words  sin,  sinners,  and  the  like.  .  .  .  Sin 
against  Jehovah  is  such  conduct  as  He  must  take  cogni- 
zance of  inHisquahtyof  King  and  supreme  judge  in  Israel, 
not  sin  in  the  New  Testament  sense,  but,  on  the  one  hand, 
offences  against  social  righteousness  and  equity,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  idolatry,  which  is  the  denial  of  Jehovah's 
true  Kingship.  Hence  the  prophet  has  no  doctrine  of 
universal  sinfulness.  The  Israehtes  are  divided  into  two 
classes — the  righteous  who  have  nothing  to  fear  from 
Jehovah,  and  the  wicked,  whom  His  presence  fills  with 
terror  [The  sinners  in  Zion  are  afraid  ;  trembling  hath 
surprised  the  godless  ones,  Is.  33^^).  Weal  to  the  righteous, 
who  shall  eat  the  fruits  of  their  doings  ;  woe  to  the  wicked, 
because  the  deserving  of  his  hands  shall  be  rendered 
unto  him — is  the  law  of  Jehovah's  justice  {Say  ye  of  the 
righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him  :  for  they  shall 
eat  the  fruit  of  their  doings.  Woe  unto  the  wicked !  it 
shall  be  ill  with  him  :  for  the  reward  of  his  hands  shall  be 
given  him.  Is.  3^",  ^^)."  ^ 

At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  even  here 
it  is  not  so  much  the  sin  of  the  individual  sinner,  i.e.,  sin- 
fulness per  se,  that  is  condemned,  as  that  sin  affects  the 
nation  through  the  individual ;  in  plain  language,  sin  is 
regarded  as  evil  more  on  account  of  its  untoward  conse- 
quences than  on  account  of  its  inherent  badness,  for  it 
affects  not  merely  the  individual,  but  more  especially  the 
nation,  for  the  wrong-doing  of  the  individual  entails  evil 
results  for  succeeding  generations. 2  J  eremiah  and  Ezekiel , 
it  is  true,  lay  stress  on  individual  responsibility,  but  "  the 

»  Robertson  Smith,  The  Prophets  of  Israel  (new  ed.),  pp.  246,  247. 
2  Cf.   Exod.   2o5  ;    34'. 


234    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

great  predominant  Old  Testament  thought  of  the  soHdarity 
of  Israel  in  respect  of  sin  "  is  one  which  even  Ezekiel 
retains. 

The  most  advanced  conceptions  are,  as  we  should 
expect,  to  be  found  in  the  Psalms  and  in  the  Book  of  Job. 
The  most  striking  thing  in  the  Psalms  about  this  subject 
is  the  way  in  which  Sin  is  regarded  as  disturbing  the  bond 
that  exists  between  God  and  man  ;  it  is  on  this  account 
that  it  is  reahzed  that  there  must  be  something  in  Sin 
itself,  apart  from  disagreeable  consequences,  which  is 
bad  and  hateful — that  is  to  say,  the  difference  between 
Sin  and  Sinfulness  is  coming  to  be  apprehended. 

A  still  further  advance,  at  all  events  in  one  direction, 
is  observable  in  Job  and  Ecclesiastes,  for  here  the  univer- 
sality of  Sin  is  frankly  taught  ;  e.g.,  Job  4^'  :  Shall  a 
man  be  just  before  God  ?  Shall  a  man  be  pure  before  His 
Maker  ? — Eccles.  720  :  Surely  there  is  not  a  righteous 
man  upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not. 

Finally,  sins  are  obliterated,  first,  through  the  offering 
of  sacrifices,  and  by  means  of  purifications  in  the  literal 
sense  ;  ^  and  secondly,  in  the  later  period,  by  means  of 
repentance  and  forsaking  of  sin,  though  here  also  sacrifices 
are,  as  a  rule,  required.  Now,  the  important  point  to  no- 
tice here  is  that  these  are  all  things  in  which,  according 
to  Old  Testament  teaching,  man  can  take,  indeed,  must 
take,  the  initiative.  God  grants  forgiveness,  that  is  to 
say,  because  of  certain  acts,  or  because  of  a  certain  frame 
of  mind  ;  in  other  words  it  hes  with  man  whether  his  sins 
shall  be  remitted  or  not.  One  cannot,  strictly  speaking,  say 
that  God,  on  His  own  initiative,  forgives  sins — according 
to  the  Old  Testament  teaching  on  Sin — because,  provided 
that  man  does  his  part,  i.e.,  does  what  is  required  for 
the  putting  away  of  his  sins,  then  his  sins  are  put  away  ; 
it  is  taken  for  granted  that  man's  act  ipso  facto  results  in 
the  doing  away  of  his  sin.    The  idea  that  any  power  other 


*  See  below,  the  chap,  on  "  The  Jewish  Doctrine  of  Baptism." 


THE   ORIGIN    OF  SIN  235 

than  human  moves  man  to  repentance,  or  what  in  Chris- 
tian phraseology  is  termed  "  prevenient  grace,"  is  indeed 
adumbrated  here  and  there,  e.g.,  in  some  of  the  Psalms, 
but  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  normal  teaching  of  the  Old 
Testament  on  the  subject.  The  non-realization  of  the 
essence  of  Sin,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  later  Jewish 
as  well  as  the  early  Israelite  conceptions  thereof,  preclude 
the  belief  that  anything  more  than  man's  act  and  will  is 
required. 

II.     The    Teaching    of   the   Apocrypha   and 

PSEUDEPIGRAPHA. 

The  subject  of  Sin  in  the  Apocryphal  and  Pseudepigra- 
phic  writings  is  a  somewhat  perplexing  one.  While,  in 
general,  one  may  say  that  in  its  main  outlines  there  is 
substantial  agreement  with  the  Old  Testament,  yet  a 
distinct  development  of  thought  is  proceeding ;  this  is,  of 
course,  more  characteristic  of  some  books  than  of  others, 
the  most  striking  of  all,  in  this  respect,  being  2  (4)  Esdras. 
But  this  developing  process  makes  it  almost  impossible 
to  state  definitely  what  is  the  doctrine  of  Sin  in  these 
writings  ;  for  not  only  in  the  different  books,  but  even  in 
one  and  the  same  book  varying  conceptions  are  to  be 
found  ;  it  seems  as  though  in  some  cases  the  writers  had 
not  come  to  any  definite  conclusions  themselves,  an 
attitude  which  is  natural  enough  if  one  remembers  that 
many  of  these  works  reflect  the  tentative  speculations  of 
a  new  era  of  religious  thought. 

Regarding  the  teaching  on  the  Origin  of  Sin  and  the 
cognate  subject  of  Original  Sin  we  have  varying  theories, 
as  the  following  passages  will  show.  Wisdom  2^^'  2* : 
"  For  God  created  man  for  eternity,  and  made  him  in  His 
own  image.  Through  envy  of  the  devil  ^  did  death  enter 
into  the  world,  and  they  that  know  him  belong  to  him." 
In  this  passage,  if  anywhere,  one  might  have  looked  for 

»  Cf.  Job  i»»-". 


236    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

some  reference  to  the  idea  of  original  sin,  if  the  germs  of 
such  a  behef  had  been  in  existence.  Then  again,  while  in 
one  passage  evil  is  impHcitly  stated  to  be  of  God's  creation, 
in  another  (in  the  same  book)  this  thought  is  expHcitly 
repudiated,  viz.,  in  Ecclus.  33^^,  ^^  we  have  :  "  Good 
stands  over  against  evil,  and  hfe  over  against  death  ;  so 
also  does  the  sinner  stand  over  against  the  pious.  And 
in  the  same  way — look  upon  all  the  works  of  the  Highest, 
[it  is  always]  two  and  two,  one  thing  over  against  an- 
other ;  "  while  in  1511-20  it  says  :  "  Say  not,  '  Through  the 
Lord  I  fell  away,'  for  what  He  hateth  thou  shouldest  not 
do.  Say  not,  '  He  Himself  caused  me  to  err,'  for  He  hath 
no  need  of  the  sinful  man.  Every  abomination  doth  the 
Lord  abhor,  and  they  that  fear  Him  love  not  such.  He 
created  man  in  the  beginning,  and  then  left  him  in  the 
power  of  his  '  counsel.'  If  thou  so  wiliest  then  keep  the 
commandments,  and  thou  art  able  to  be  faithful,  if  it 
pleases  thee.  He  hath  set  before  thee  fire  and  water  ; 
thou  art  able  to  stretch  out  thy  hand  to  either. 
Life  and  death  lie  before  man,  and  whichever  he 
prefers  shall  be  given  to  him.  For  great  is  the  wisdom 
of  the  Lord,  He  is  mighty  in  power,  seeing  all  things, 
and  His  eyes  are  upon  them  that  fear  Him,  and 
He  knoweth  every  deed  of  man.  And  no  man  hath  He 
commanded  to  do  unrighteously,  and  to  no  man  hath  He 
given  licence  to  sin."  This  is  a  very  important  passage, 
and  shows  clearly  enough  that  the  choice  of  doing  good  or 
evil  was  solely  a  matter  of  man's  inclination,  though  in 
the  previous  passage  quoted,  there  are  among  the  "  works 
of  the  Highest  "  the  antitheses  between  good  and  evil. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  passages  which 
are  at  all  events  suggestive  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  ; 
for  example,  Ecclus.  252*  :  "  Sin  originates  from  a  woman, 
and  through  her  we  all  die,"  cf.  with  this  i  Tim.  i^* : 
Adam  was  not  beguiled,  but  the  woman  being  beguiled  hath 
fallen  into  transgression.  Again  Wisdom  12^^  :  "  For  it 
is  a  cursed  seed  from  the  beginning  "  ;  and  2  (4)  Esdras 


REMISSION   OF   SINS  237 

^29-31  •  "As  long  as  that  which  is  sown  is  not  reaped 
and  the  place  of  the  evil  seed  has  not  disappeared,  the  plot 
wherein  the  good  is  sown  cannot  appear.  For  a  grain  of 
evil  seed  was  sown  in  the  heart  of  Adam  in  the  beginning, 
and  how  large  a  quantity  of  the  fruit  of  sin  hath  it  borne 
and  will  it  bear  until  the  threshing-floor  appear  "  !  ^ 

The  ambiguity  is  further  increased  on  finding  that  the 
possibility  of  sinlessness  in  some  men  is  contemplated  ; 
this,  it  is  true,  is  restricted  to  the  patriarchs,  but  the  fact 
that  it  should  be  apphed  to  anybody  shows  a  very  inade- 
quate conception  of  sin  ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  find  this 
in  the  short  book  {The  Prayer  of  Manasses)  which  is  other- 
wise most  definite  in  teaching  the  need  of  repentance,  and 
of  forgiveness  on  the  part  of  God  :  "  I  bow  the  knee  of  my 
heart,  beseeching  thee  of  grace  "  ;  "I  humbly  beseech 
Thee,  forgive  me,  O  Lord,  forgive  me  "  ;  "  For  Thou  art 
the  God,  even  the  God  of  them  that  repent."  In  direct 
opposition  to  the  idea  that  anyone  can  be  without  sin  is 
the  teaching  in  2  (4)  Esdras  8^5  :  "  For  in  truth  there 
is  no  man  among  them  that  be  born,  but  he  hath  dealt 
wickedly  ;  and  among  the  faithful  there  is  none  which 
hath  not  done  amiss." 

Regarding  remission  of  sins  we  find,  again,  that  the 
teaching  is  not  uniform ;  sometimes  reconciliation  is 
made  by  means  of  sacrifice,  i.e.,  a  "  sin-offering  "  (i  Mace. 
J240-45)  ;  this  passage  is  the  more  striking  in  that  the 
offering  is  for  the  dead,  "  he  made  reconcihation  for  the 
dead,  that  they  might  be  delivered  from  sin  "  (verse  45). 
In  strong  constrast  to  this  is,  for  example,  such  a  passage 
as  Ecclus.  55-  6  :  "  Concerning  propitiation,  be  not  with- 
out fear  to  add  sin  to  sin  ;  and  say  not.  His  mercy  is 
great ;  He  will  be  pacified  for  the  multitude  of  my  sins." 
Sometimes,  as  already  pointed  out,  man  takes  the  initia- 
tive in  turning  from  sin,  and  then  remission  follows  ; 
but  there  are  many  passages  to  show  that  sin  is  only 

»  Cf.  Matt.  3»^ 


238    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

removed  through  divine  forgiveness,  such  are,  for  ex- 
ample :  Ecclus  2^1,  "  For  the  Lord  is  full  of  compassion 
and  mercy  [longsuffering  and  pitiful], ^  and  He  forgiveth 
sins,  and  saveth  in  time  of  affliction."  But  that  there 
was  a  danger  of  regarding  sacrifices  as  sufficient  in  them- 
selves appears  from  7^  :  "  Say  not,  '  God  will  look  upon 
the  multitude  of  my  oblations,  and  when  I  offer  to  the 
most  high  God,  He  will  accept  it.'  "  The  most  adequate 
teaching  of  all,  however,  is  found  in  such  passages  as  lay 
stress  on  both  the  grace  and  forgiveness  of  God,  and  the 
repentance  of  man  ;  short  of  the  Christian  teaching  of 
forgiveness  through  Christ,  passages  hke  the  following 
contain  the  most  beautiful  conceptions  on  the  subject 
of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  that  can  weU  be  imagined  : 
Ecclus.  1725'  26  :  "  Turn  unto  the  Lord,  and  forsake  thy 
sins,  make  thy  prayer  before  His  face,  and  keep  away 
from  causes  of  offence.  Turn  again  to  the  most  High, 
and  turn  away  from  iniquity  ;  [for  He  Himself  will  lead 
thee  out  of  darkness  to  the  glorious  hght,  and  give  thee 
health]  ^  and  hate  the  abomination  (of  sin)."  21^  :  "  He 
that  feareth  the  Lord  will  repent  from  his  heart."  Wisd. 
12^^ :  "  Thou  hast  made  Thy  children  to  be  of  good 
hope  that  Thou  givest  repentance  for  sins." 

But  it  is  in  the  2  (4)  book  of  Esdras  that  the  most 
striking  teaching  on  Sin  is  found  ;  in  no  non-Christian 
writing  is  the  true  nature  of  Sin  so  realized  as  in  this  one. 
Hitherto  every  sin  was  regarded  as  an  isolated  act,  un- 
connected with  anything  inherent  in  human  nature,  a 
thing  which  could  be  avoided  if  man  so  willed,  but  being 
committed  could  easily  be  obhterated.  In  this  book, 
however,  it  is  taught  that  the  whole  human  race  is  in- 
volved in  sin,  and  that  the  real  reason  of  the  universal 
prevalence  of  sin  is  to  be  sought  in  the  innate  badness 
of  the  human  heart.     It  was  sin  that  had  brought  about 

*  The  words  in  brackets  should  be  omitted,  according  to  the 
best  reading. 

*  The  best  MSS.  omit  the  words  in  brackets. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF  THE   FALL  239 

death  (cf.  Rom.  6^3,  The  wages  of  sin  is  death).  So 
steeped  is  the  world  in  sin  that  it  seems  to  the  writer  of 
the  book  that  the  only  remedy  lies  in  a  new  age  ;  a  fresh 
start  must  be  made,  and  a  new  Era  will  dawn,  then  all 
sorrow  will  be  turned  into  joy,  for  sin  will  be  rooted  out 
(see  7^'  ff.).  It  is  also  very  striking  how  the  writer,  in 
spite  of  his  vehement  denunciations  of  sin,  shows  his  pity 
and  sympathy  for  the  sinful  ;  he  reckons  both  his  nation 
and  himself  among  them,  but  with  his  sense  of  sin  there 
is  blended  a  deep  repentance,  and  an  unshakable  belief 
in  God's  mercy. 

The  book  is  most  striking  in  its  treatment  of  the 
subject  of  Sin,  and  in  spite  of  its  strong  Jewish  colouring, 
and  in  some  places  anti-Christian  polemic,  it  is  difficult 
not  to  believe  that  in  spite  of  himself  the  writer  was 
influenced  by  Christian  teaching.  ^ 

For  the  most  part  the  pseudepigraphic  writings  reflect 
much  the  same  conceptions  concerning  Sin  as  are  found 
in  the  Apocrypha.  Like  some  part  of  the  apocryphal 
teaching,  this  literature  does  not  regard  Sin  as  a  necessity  ; 
but  we  find  this  idea  rather  more  fully  developed  in  the 
Pseudepigrapha.  For  example,  in  Enoch  98^,  we  read  : 
"  Sin  has  not  been  sent  upon  the  earth,  but  man  of  him- 
self has  created  it."  The  doctrine  of  a  Fall  of  some  sort 
seems  to  be  taught  (cf.  Enoch  85),  but  the  fall  of  the  angels 
was  a  far  more  serious  matter,  apparently,  for  Humanity 
than  the  fall  of  Adam.  In  the  Book  of  Jubilees  the  origin 
of  Sin  is  not  to  be  sought  in  Adam's  sin,  but  in  demons. 
On  the  other  hand ,  in  the  Life  of  A  dam  and  Eve,  44,  Adam 
says  to  Eve  :  "  What  hast  thou  done  ?  Great  plagues 
hast  thou  brought  upon  us,  wickedness  and  sin  upon  our 
whole  race  "  ;  so,  too,  in  the  parallel  account  in  the 
Apocalypse  of  Moses,  Adam  says:  "What  hast  thou  done 
to  us  ?  Thou  hast  brought  upon  us  great  wrath,  even 
death,  which  now  rules  over  our  whole  race." 

^  Even  in  the  undoubtedly  Jewish  portions. 


240    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

III.     The  Teaching  of  the  Rabbis. 

We  come  now  to  the  more  specifically  Jewish  doctrine 
of  Sin,  as  found  reflected  in  the  Rabbinical  writings. 

The  Jews  do  not  believe  in  Original  Sin  ;  the  idea  that 
Adam's  sin  in  any  way  affected  the  status  of  the  human 
race  is  quite  alien  to  Jewish  teaching.  As  we  shall  see 
more  fully  brought  out  as  we  proceed,  the  tendency  to 
sin  is  conceived  of  as  being  in  existence  before  the  creation 
of  Adam.  His  sin  is  merely  a  result  of  the  evil  of  his 
heart  which  began  to  come  into  being  as  soon  as  he  was 
born. 

According  to  Jewish  teaching  the  "  Fall  "  was  the 
transgression  of  one  commandment,  aggravated,  however, 
by  the  absence  of  all  repentance  on  the  part  of  Adam  ; 
it  was  brought  about  by  the  subtilty  of  Satan — or  the 
serpent,  for  the  two  are  of  course  identical — because  he 
was  jealous  of  Adam,  who  had  usurped  the  position 
formerly  held  by  Satan  as  God's  favourite. 

Jewish  traditions  vary,  however,  as  to  the  reason  of  Satan's 
tempting  Eve  ;  in  several  passages  it  is  stated  that  Satan's 
lust  towards  her  brought  about  her  fall  ;  see  Bereshith 
rabbah  c.  18,19;  Sanhedrin  59'';  Sotah  g^ ;  Yebamoth  103''; 
Abodah  zarah  22''. 

TheTargums  teach  that  death  is  one  of  the  consequences 
of  sin  ;  this  is  expressed  in  one  passage,  in  the  Jerusalem 
Targum  to  Genesis  3®,  by  saying  that  at  the  moment  in 
which  Eve  succumbed  to  temptation  she  saw  Sammael 
the  angel  of  death  ;  as  Satan  is  identical  with  Sammael,  we 
must  suppose  that  this  passage  is  intended  to  teach  that 
Satan  revealed  himself  to  Eve  as  the  angel  of  death  at  the 
moment  in  which  he  overcame  her.  But  in  the  continua- 
tion of  the  same  passage  it  is  said,  that  the  fear  which 
Sammael's  appearance  inspired  led  Adam  and  Eve  to  eat 
of  the  Tree  ;  what  is  meant  is,  possibly,  this  :  they  knew 
that  the  tree  "  was  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise," 
and  therefore  ate  of  it  in  the  belief  that  it  would  act  as  a 
kind  of  safeguard  against  Sammael  ;    the  passage  would 


RABBINIC  TEACHING   ON   SIN  241 

then  be  an  illustration  of  what  is  so  often  laid  stress 
upon,  namely,  the  wiliness  of  Satan.  Further  on  in  the 
same  passage,  in  the  comment  on  Genesis  3',  we  read  : 
"  His  (Adam's)  skin  was  a  light  garment,  shining  Hke  his 
nails  ;  when  he  sinned  this  lightness  vanished,  and  he 
appeared  naked."  As  illustrating  a  deeper  reahzation  of 
the  essence  of  Sin  we  may  refer  to  the  Tar  gum  of  Jona- 
than to  Is.  62^°,  where  it  says  that  the  imagination  of 
sin  is  sin,  cf.  Jer.  Targ.  i  to  Deut.  23^^ 

While  the  existence  of  sin  is  presupposed  before  Adam 
fell,  his  sin  was  the  means  of  death  entering  into  the  world, 
so  that  all  generations  to  the  end  of  time  are  subject  to 
death  {Tanchuma,  Bereshith  8). 

But  the  essence  of  the  teaching  concerning  the  "  Fall  " 
is  that  it  was  the  transgression  of  a  single  commandment 
which  would  not  in  itself  have  been  fatal,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  fact  that  Adam  exhibited  no  sign  of  penitence  ;  he 
refused  to  entertain  sorrow  for  his  sin  when  called  upon 
to  do  so  by  God  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  set  himself  against 
God,  and  became,  like  Satan,  a  rebel.  This  is  brought 
out,  for  example,  in  the  following  passage  from  Bemidhar 
rabbah  c.  13,  in  which  the  words  of  Prov.  2cf^  {A  man's  pride 
shall  bring  him  low  ;  but  he  that  is  of  a  lowly  spirit  shall 
obtain  honour)  are  made  to  refer  to  Adam :  "  When  Adam 
transgressed  the  command  of  the  Holy  One  and  ate  of  the 
tree,  the  Holy  One  demanded  of  him  penitence,  thereby 
revealing  to  him  the  means  of  freedom  (i.e.,  from  guilt), 
but  Adam  would  not.  .  .  .  But  what  is  meant  by,  And 
now  (Gen.  3^2)  ?  This  :  that  the  Holy  One  said  to  him  : 
'  Even  now  show  penitence,  and  I  will  accept  thee.'  But 
Adam  rephed  :  '  I  will  not  !  '  Then  said  the  Holy  One  : 
'  And  now  ! '  Adam  reiterated  :  '  No,  I  will  not  !  '  "  ^ 
So  that,  according  to  this  teaching — and  the  passage  is  not 
an  isolated  one  of  the  kind — Adam  might,  by  an  act  of 
penitence,  have  annulled  the  effects  of  the  Fall.     Because 

»  Weber,  p.  218.     Sec  further  Bousset  p.  384. 

17— (24x7) 


242    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

he  would  not  perform  this  act  he  was  driven  out  of  Eden, 
and  had  to  suffer  all  the  consequences  which  this  entailed. 

IV.    The  Doctrine  of  the  Yetser  hara*. 

But  the  theory  which  is  contained  in  the  above,  and 
other  similar  passages,  did  not  account  satisfactorily  for 
the  existence  of  evil  in  every  human  being.  There  arose, 
therefore,  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  Jewish  equivalent 
to  the  Christian  doctrine  of  "  Original  Sin,"  in  the  theolo- 
gical sense,  though,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  Jews 
profess  not  to  believe  in  this.  This  was  the  theory  of  the 
Yetser  hara',  i.e.,  "  the  evil  tendency  "  or  "  bias  towards 
evil." 

The  theory  was  probably  prevalent  long  before  its  appear- 
ance in  Rabbinical  literature,  and  seems  to  be  taught  in  the 
book  of  Sirach  {Ecclesiasticus),  e.g.  i6",  21^^  37*. 

The  extraordinary  thing  about  this  theory  of  the  origin 
of  sin  is  that,  in  the  last  instance,  God  is  the  cause  of  Sin  ; 
for,  as  Creator  of  all  things.  He  created  the  Yetser  hara' 
in  Adam,  the  existence  of  which  made  the  Fall  possible 
[Bereshith  rabbah,  c.  27).  A  few  passages  may  be  cited  to 
show  this.  The  Almighty  is  made  to  say  :  "  I  grieve 
that  I  created  man  of  earthly  substance  ;  for  had  I  created 
him  of  heavenly  substance,  he  would  not  have  rebelled 
against  me  :  "  {Yalkut  Shim.  Beresh.  44,  47)  ;  again  :  "  It 
repenteth  me  that  I  created  the  Yetser  hara'  in  man,  for 
had  I  not  done  this  he  would  not  have  rebelled  against 
me  "  [Ibid.  61)  ;  once  more  :  "  I  created  an  evil  tendency. 
I  created  for  him  (i.e.,  man)  the  Law  as  a  means  of  healing. 
If  ye  occupy  yourselves  with  (the  study  of)  the  Law,  ye 
will  not  fall  into  the  power  of  it  (i.e.,  the  evil  tendency)  " 
{Kiddushin  30^).  Dr.  Taylor,  in  his  Commentary  on 
"  The  Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers  "  {Pirke  A  both),  has 
an  interesting  note  on  iv,  2,  "  Who  is  mighty  ?  He  that 
subdues  nature  " ; — the  words  from  Psalm  37^2  are  quoted, 
The  wicked  watcheth  the  righteous,  and  seeketh  to  slay  him, 
it  then  continues  :    "  The   wicked  is  man's  evil  nature 


THE   GOOD   AND   EVIL   "  YETSER  "        243 

which  he  must  subdue,  yet  not  wholly  destroy  and  eradi- 
cate, for  this  would  be  to  ruin  the  body  by  the  psychic 
force.  The  evil  Yetser  rules  over  the  animal  soul  which  a 
man  is  commanded  to  preserve  {Take  heed  to  thyself,  and 
keep  thy  soul  diligefitly,  Deut.  4*^)  ;  and  in  order  to  do 
this,  he  must  to  a  certain  extent  follow  the  prompting  of 
the  Yetser.  Even  the  evil  Yetser  is  good,  for  it  is  said  : 
A7id  God  saw  everything  that  He  had  made,  and,  behold, 
it  was  very  good  (Gen.  i^^).  The  good  Yetser  was  very 
good,  and  so  was  the  evil  Yetser,  but  for  which  a  man 
would  never  build  a  house,  nor  marry,  nor  beget,  nor 
trade."  '  Then  after  quoting  Sanhedrin  loy^  ("  The  evil 
nature,  and  a  child,  and  a  woman,  are  things  which  the 
left  hand  should  repel,  and  the  right  hand  bring  near  "), 
Dr.  Taylor  adds  :  "  The  evil  nature  is  called  Yetser 
absolutely  from  its  existing  originally,  and  for  a  long  time 
alone,  for  '  the  imagination  of  man's  heart  is  evil  from  his 
youth  '  (Gen,  8^^),  whereas  Y etser-ha-toh  {'  the  good 
nature  '),  which  is  presided  over  by  Nous  (the  '  Mind  '),  is 
added  later,  and  then  only  co-exists  with  the  evil,  which  is 
thirteen  years  older  [Midrash  Koheleth  9^^).  The  strong 
and  great  man  is  he  in  whom  the  evil  nature  is  strong  : 
'  and  therefore  our  wise  men,  of  blessed  memory,  have 
said.  In  the  place  where  penitents  stand,  the  faultlessly 
righteous  stand  not,'  for  it  is  said  (Is.  57^^),  Peace,  peace, 
to  him  that  is  far  off,  and  to  him  that  is  near  :  to  the 
far-off  first,  and  afterwards  to  the  near  {Berachoth  35'')." 
The  Rabbinic  speculations  concerning  this  Yetser  hara' 
clearly  witness  to  the  conviction  of  Jewish  theologians 
that  sin  was  inherent  in  humanity.  This  is  very  import- 
ant, for  it  brings  them,  though  through  a  different  channel, 
into  close  proximity  with  Christian  teaching  on  this  part 
of  the  subject.  Where  Jewish  and  Christian  teaching 
part  company  fundamentally  is  not  upon  the  question  of 
sinful   humanity    (though    they   may   differ   as   to   how 

'  See  Bereshith  rabbah  c.  9.,  cf.  Sukkah  52^. 


244     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

humanity  became  sinful),  but  upon  the  means  whereby 
sin  is  taken  away. 

V.    The  Doctrine  of  Atonement. 

This  brings  us  to  the  subject  of  Atonement.  According 
to  Rabbinical  teaching  sin  can  be  taken  away  by  three 
things  :  Good  deeds,  Repentance,  and  Confession.  It  will 
be  best  to  take  each  of  these  separately,  and  illustrate 
them  by  reference  to  Jewish  writings. 

a.  Good  deeds.  Among  these  must  be  reckoned  the 
offering  of  sacrifices,  for  although  sacrifices  have  long 
ceased,  there  are  good  deeds  which  are  reckoned  as  sub- 
stitutes for  sacrifices  ;  and  not  only  are  such  substitutes 
regarded  as  efficacious  as  the  sacrifices  themselves  were, 
but  it  "  became  a  definite  doctrine  with  the  Rabbis  that 
the  substitutes  for  sacrifices  are  more  potent  than  sacri- 
fice." ^  It  is  said  several  times  in  Bemidbar  rabbah 
that  no  man  in  Jerusalem  was  burdened,  or  passed  the 
night  with  a  consciousness  of  sin  ;  for  the  morning  sacri- 
fice atoned  for  the  sins  of  the  night,  and  the  evening 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  day.  "  As  a  man  goes  down  to 
the  brook  dirty,  and  comes  up  clean,  so  a  man  went  up  to 
the  sanctuary  with  sins,  and  came  forth  without  them."  ^ 
Some  authorities  say  that  sacrifice  atones  for  sins  per  se, 
though  others  teach  that  sacrifice  must  be  accompanied 
by  repentance  if  sin  is  to  be  atoned  for.  Other  passages 
which  lay  stress  on  the  efficacy  of  good  works  for  taking 
away  sin  are  :  "  If  a  man  yields  his  rights,  his  sins  are 
forgiven"  {Yoma  23^,  87''''')  ;  "God  forgives  him  who 
forgives  his  neighbour  "  {Rosh  hashanah  17'''  cf.  Matt. 
514. 15 .  Luke  6^')  ;  "  So  long  as  we  are  merciful,  God  is 
merciful  to  us  ;  if  we  are  not  merciful  to  others,  God  is 
not  merciful  to  us  "  {Megillah  28^  cf.  Matt.  5')  ;  "  Three 
things  can  cancel  evil  decrees,  namely,  prayer,  almsgiving 

1  See  C.  G.  Montefiore's  art.   Rabbinic  Conceptions   of  Repent- 
ance in  JQR,  xvi  (Jan.,  1904),  pp.  209-257. 
*  Midrash  Tehillim  on  Ps,  v,  §  i.. 


REPENTANCE  245 

and  repentance."  i  "  If  God  loves  the  poor,  why  does  He 
not  feed  them  "  ?  The  answer  is  :  "To  save  the  rich 
from  Gehenna."  ^     See  further  §  vi  of  this  chapter. 

b.  Repentance.  The  Rabbis  taught  that  he  who  truly 
repents  "  is  regarded  by  God  as  if  he  had  gone  to  Jerusa- 
lem, rebuilt  the  altar,  and  offered  all  the  sacrifices  of  the 
Law."  3  Teshuhah  ("  Repentance  ")  combined  with  good 
works  is  most  efficacious  ;  the  Talmud  states  that  three 
books  are  opened  on  New  Year's  Day  :  the  righteous  are 
inscribed,  in  one  of  these,  for  life  ;  the  wicked,  in  another, 
for  death  ;  while  the  "  intermediate  " — neither  really 
good  nor  thoroughly  bad — remain  in  suspense  until  the 
Day  of  Atonement.  By  good  works  and  repentance  they 
can  make  the  swaying  balance  incline  in  their  favour. 
Moreover,  even  the  wicked — this  seems  to  be  the  general 
idea  * — can  cause  the  inscribed  decree  to  be  cancelled,  if 
they  repent  {Rash  ha-Shanah  ly^  ;  Yebamoth  105^).  Among 
many  beautiful  passages  on  repentance  in  Rabbinical 
writings  which  teach  how  forgiveness  of  sins  is  accorded 
in  response  to  it,  the  few  following  may  be  cited  :  "  God 
says,  My  hands  are  stretched  out  towards  the  penitent  ; 
I  thrust  no  one  back  who  gives  me  his  heart  in  repent- 
ance "  [Shemoth  rahhah  xii,  4).  "  God's  hand  is  stretched 
out  under  the  wings  of  the  heavenly  chariot  to  snatch  the 
penitent  from  the  grasp  of  justice  "  {Pesachim  119"). 
"  Open  for  me  a  gateway  of  repentance  as  big  as  a  needle's 
eye,  and  I  will  open  for  you  gates  wide  enough  for  chariots 
and  horses  "  {Shir  rabbah  on  v,  2)  ;  in  the  well-known 
passage,  Matt.  19  ^*,  it  is  the  want  of  repentance  on  the 
part  of  the  rich  man — All  these  things  have  I  observed  ; 
what  lack  I  yet  ? — that  called  forth  Christ's  words  ;  cf. 
Luke  5^2  :    I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to 

'  Quoted  from  the  Midrash  by  Montefiore  op.  cit. 
^  Quoted  from  the  Talmud  by  Montague,  Tales  from  the  Talmud, 
p.  252. 

»  Quoted  from  Wayyikra  rabbah  bv  Montefiore  op.  cit. 
«  Ibid. 


246     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

repentance,  see  Matt.  9"  ;  Mark,  2^'.  Again  :  "  A  man 
can  shoot  an  arrow  a  few  furlongs,  but  repentance  reaches 
to  the  throne  of  glory  "  {Pesikta  163^). ^  In  some 
instances  it  is  taught  that  even  after  death  repentance 
is  sometimes  of  avail.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  also 
found  the  doctrine  that  for  some  sins  repentance  is 
impossible,  e.g.  :  "  For  him  who  sins  and  causes  others 
to  sin  no  repentance  is  allowed  or  possible  "  {Aboth  v.  26, 
Sanhedrin  107^),  cf.  Rom.  1^2  ;  Who,  knowing  the  ordi- 
nance of  God,  that  they  which  practise  such  things  are  worthy 
of  death,  not  only  do  the  same,  hut  also  consent  with  them 
that  practise  them  ;  it  is  of  these  that  it  is  said  (verse  28)  : 
They  refused  to  have  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave  them 
up  unto  a  reprobate  mind.  So,  too,  in  Midr.  Tehillin 
Ps.  I  :  "He  who  is  wholly  given  up  to  sin  is  unable  to 
repent,  and  there  is  no  forgiveness  to  him  for  ever  "  ;  cf. 
Mark  3^^ :  But  whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal  sin. 
It  is  characteristic  of  the  Rabbinical  doctrine  of  Repent- 
ance that  they  restrict  it  in  large  measure  to  Israel  ;  they 
are  particularist,  and  rarely  mention  the  Gentiles  in  this 
connexion.  Mr.  Montefiore,  in  summing  up  the  teaching 
of  the  Rabbis  on  Teshubah,  says  :  "  The  Rabbinic  teaching 
about  Repentance  is  closely  akin  to  the  Jewish  teaching 
of  the  latter  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  a.d.  The  main 
differences  are  first,  that  the  Rabbinic  doctrine  is,  on  the 
whole,  particularist,  while  the  modern  teaching  is  pro- 
nouncedly universalist  ;  and  secondly,  that  the  Rabbis 
are  sterner  towards  the  sinner,  especially  towards  the 
religious  sinner, — the  heretic,  the  apostate,  the  unbeHever. 
Lastly,  whereas,  according  to  the  modern  teaching,  all 
punishment  after  death  can  only  be  remedial  and  tempo- 
rary, the  Rabbis  held  that  for  some  sinners  there  was  no 
share  whatever  in  the  blessedness  of  the  world  to  come."  ^ 


These  passages  are  quoted  from  Montefiore  op.  cit. 
Ibid. 


CONFESSION  247 

c.  Confession.  As  this  subject  is  treated  in  the  section 
"  The  Day  of  Atonement  "  (see  ch.  xx),  it  will  suffice  to 
illustrate  it  quite  briefly  here.  It  is,  however,  impossible 
to  separate  it  from  the  Day  of  Atonement,  as  that  is 
the  time  par  excellence  at  which  confession  is  made.  Con- 
fession of  sins  (Widchii),  implying  as  it  does  Repentance, 
obtains  pardon  per  se.  According  to  Yalkut  Shim., 
Bereshith  159,  confession  is  meritorious,  and  of  avail  for 
reward  both  in  this  world  and  the  next  ;  even  the  murderer 
can  by  means  of  it  attain  to  eternal  life  {Sanhedrin  103'). 
But  as  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  full  confession  of  all 
the  sins  of  the  past  year  is  made,  it  follows  that  the  proper 
observance  of  this  day  is  of  great  efficacy  in  taking  away 
sin.  Thus  in  the  Mishnah  [Yoma  viii,  8)  it  says  :  "  Death 
and  the  Day  of  Atonement  atone  together  with  repent- 
ance, repentance  atones  for  venial  sins,  whether  of 
omission  or  commission  ;  for  grievous  sins  repentance 
holds  the  matter  in  suspense,  till  the  Day  of  Atonement 
comes  and  atones."  In  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  {Yoma 
viii,  6)  it  is  said  that  the  Day  of  Atonement  brings 
atonement  even  without  repentance  for  sins  of  omission, 
whereas  for  sins  of  commission  repentance  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition.  Sins  of  commission  are  always,  in 
the  Talmud,  regarded  as  more  serious  than  sins  of 
omission.  For  in  the  same  tractate  (viii,  9)  it  says  that 
"  for  sins  between  man  and  God  the  Day  of  Atonement 
brings  forgiveness,  for  sins  between  man  and  man  the 
Day  brings  no  forgiveness  until  he  is  reconciled  with  his 
neighbour." 

It  will,  therefore,  be  seen  that,  according  to  Jewish 
teaching,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  depends  upon  the  sinner, 
for  there  is  no  question  of  a  mediator;  "  specially  favoured 
is  Israel  in  that  he  does  not  require  a  go-between  " 
{Yoma  52^). 

In  a  few  isolated  passages  divine  grace  is  referred  to, 
e.g.  :  "  If  you  do  not  commit  a  sin  three  times,  God  will 
keep  you  from  committing  it  for  ever  "   {Yoma    Z9^), 


248     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

"  For  him  who  would  pollute  himself,  the  doors  are 
open  ;  he  who  would  purify  himself  is  helped  "  [Ibid. 
38'')  ;  "  Our  Father  and  King,  bring  us  back  in  perfect 
repentance  unto  Thy  presence  {Ihid.  39^  see  Singer,  p.  56) ; 
"  My  God,  the  soul  which  Thou  hast  placed  in  me  is 
pure  "  {Berachoth  60^).  But  passages  Uke  these  are 
exceptional  ;  the  Rabbis  were  strong  believers  in  man's 
free-will  ;  it  is,  according  to  them,  man's  own  fault  if  he 
sins  ;  he  can  be  good  if  he  chooses  ;  and  no  one  but 
man's  own  contrite  heart  is  his  advocate  before  God. 
In  Yoma  38^  it  says  :  "  If  a  man  has  the  chance  to  sin 
once  or  twice  and  he  resists,  he  will  not  sin  again,"  and 
in  Shemoth  rabbah  xxv,  §  12  we  read  :  "  The  period  of 
the  redemption  depends  solely  upon  repentance  and 
good  works."  Man's  free-will,  therefore,  is  the  prime 
essential  ;  divine  grace  does  not,  per  se,  lead  men  to 
do  what  is  right ;  repentance  is  brought  about  by  man, 
and  by  man  alone.  God  accepts  repentance  in  man,  but 
He  has  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  appearance  in  the  heart 
of  man  ;  it  was  the  Yetser-ha-tob,  the  "  bias  towards 
good,"  which  is  one  part  of  man's  nature,  that  called 
forth  repentance.  One  sees,  in  view  of  this,  the  signifi- 
cance of  such  a  passage  as  Rom.  2'*  :  Despisest  thou  the 
riches  of  His  goodness  and  forbearance  and  longsuffering, 
not  knowing  that  the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to 
repentance  ? 

VI.    The  Doctrine  of  "  Zecuth." 

What  has  been  said  receives  illustration  from  the  Jewish 
doctrine  of  Zecuth.  This  word  means,  in  the  first  instance, 
"  purity  "  or  "  cleanness  "  ;  in  the  present  connexion 
its  root  ideas  may  perhaps  be  best  expressed  in  the  two 
words  :  "  satisfaction  "  and  "  claim  "  ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  man  who  has  kept  all  the  commandments  of  God  has 
Zecuth,  i.e.,  he  is  in  that  state  of  righteousness  which  is 
attained  by  having  satisfied  all  the  divine  demands  made 
upon  him,  and  therefore  he  is  in  a  position  to  claim  his 


"  ZFXUTH  "  249 

reward  from  God  ;  he  is  a  "  righteous  "  man,  and  there- 
fore "  justified  "  in  the  sight  of  God.  There  is,  according 
to  Jewish  teaching,  a  kind  of  "  account  current  "  kept  by 
the  Almighty  respecting  every  Israehte  ;  the  credit  and 
debit  columns  in  this  divine  account-book  are  balanced 
up  every  day  (cf.  Kethuhoth  6y^).  Every  good  action 
is  written  down  to  a  man's  credit  in  this  species  of  banking 
account,  and  every  evil  deed  is  put  down  on  the  debit 
side  ;  according  as  to  whether  the  balance  is  on  the  credit 
or  debit  side  of  the  account,  a  man  is  justified,  or  the 
reverse,  before  God  ;  and  therefore,  as  it  is  said  in  Kid- 
dushin  40*",  a  man  is  judged  "  according  to  that  which 
balances,"  ^  i.e.,  according  to  which  side  of  the  account  is 
greater.  The  things  which,  above  all,  go  to  swell  the 
credit  side  of  a  man's  account  are  the  study  of  the  Torah, 
almsgiving,  and  deeds  of  love  ;  but  it  is  important  to 
notice  that  almsgiving  only  has  value  in  the  sight  of  God 
when  it  is  the  outcome  of  real  goodness  of  heart  ;  it  must 
be  combined  with  love  ;  compare  with  this  Matt.  6^  : 
When  therefore  thou  doest  alms,  sound  not  a  trumpet  before 
thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  Synagogues  and  in  the 
streets,  that  they  may  have  glory  of  men.  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  they  have  received  their  reward.  Those  against  whom 
Christ  was  here  speaking  were  transgressors  of  true  Jewish 
precept.  But  all  that  a  man  does  to  swell  the  credit 
side  of  his  account  is  due  to  his  own  initiative  ;  as  already 
I)ointed  out  above,  it  is  not  the  grace  of  God  that  leads 
men  to  do  good  works,  but  their  own  free-will ;  man 
takes  the  initiative,  and  by  his  good  works  justifies  him- 
self in  the  sight  of  God.  The  following  passages  will 
illustrate  this  :  "  When  Mar  Ukba  lay  a-dying,  he  asked 
for  his  account ;  it  amounted  to  7,000  Zuzim,^  i.e.,  this 
was  the  sum-total  of  his  almsgiving.  Then  he  cried  out : 
'  The  way  is  far,  and  the  provision  is  small,'  i.e.,  he  did 


'  Weber,  p.  280. 

*  A  Zuz  was  the  silver  denarius  (called  dinar  in  the  Mishnah) 
and  was  equal  to  gji.  of  our  money. 


250     SYNAGOGUE    RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

not  think  this  sum  was  sufficient  to  ensure  his  justification 
in  the  sight  of  God  ;  so  he  gave  away  the  half  of  his 
fortune,  in  order  to  make  himself  quite  secure  "  {Kethuhoth 
67^).  Again,  concerning  a  righteous  man  who  died  in 
the  odour  of  sanctity,  it  is  said,  in  Tanchuma,  Wayyakhel 
i  :  "  How  much  alms  did  he  give,  how  much  did  he  study 
the  Torah,  how  many  Mitzvoth  {"  commandments  ")  did 
he  fulfil  !  He  will  rest  among  the  righteous."  Signifi- 
cant, too,  is  what  is  said  in  Baba  Bathra  lo'*,  viz.,  that 
God  placed  the  poor  on  earth  in  order  to  save  rich  men 
from  Hell. 

One  other  point  of  importance  regarding  the  works  by 
means  of  which  a  man  attains  justification  is  that  the 
desire  to  do  a  good  act  counts  the  same  as  its  actual  fufil- 
ment  ;  on  the  other  hand,  however,  the  desire  to  do  a  bad 
act  does  not  count  as  though  it  had  been  accomplished, 
in  this  case,  only  the  act  itself,  apart  from  its  conception, 
is  recorded  against  a  man  [Kiddushin  39^  40""). 

To  gain  a  true  idea  of  the  fundamental  difference 
existing  between  the  Jewish  and  Christian  doctrine  of  sin, 
the  following  passages  from  St.  Paul's  Epistles  should  be 
studied  : — 

Rom.  323  24-  por  all  have  sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the 
glory  of  God  :  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Rom.  42  :  For  if  Abraham  was  justified  by  works,  he  hath 
whereof  to  glory  ;    but  not  toward  God. 

Rom.  52°.  .  .  .  But  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did 
abound  more  exceedingly. 

Gal.  2^^.  .  .  .  Yet  knowing  that  a  man  is  not  justified 
by  works  of  the  law  .  .  .  that  we  might  be  justified  by 
faith  in  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law  :  because 
by  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified. 

Gal.  2^^  :  /  do  not  make  void  the  grace  of  God  :  for  if 
righteousness  is  through  the  law,  then  Christ  died  for  nought. 

Eph.  2^"^".  For  by  grace  ye  have  been  saved  through 
faith  ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves  :    it  is  the  gift  of  God  : 


MODERN  JEWISH  TEACHING      251 

not  of  works,  that  no  man  should  glory.  For  we  are  his 
workmanship ,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which 
God  afore  prepared,  that  we  should  walk  in  them. 

VII.  The  Modern  Jewish  Teaching  on  Sin. 

We  come,  finally,  to  consider  the  doctrine  of  sin  as 
expounded  by  some  of  the  more  modern  Jewish  teachers 
though  here,  too,  references  to  the  earlier  writings  will 
also  sometimes  be  given  in  so  far  as  they  are  used  by 
modern  writers  for  substantiating  their  teaching. 

In  spite  of  what  has  been  said  as  to  the  fundamental 
difference  between  the  Jewish  and  Christian  doctrine  of 
Sin,  there  is  much  in  which  the  two  are  identical,  and  we 
should  be  far  from  denying  that  in  many  respects  the 
Jewish  doctrine  of  sin  is  subhme.^  This  will  be  clearly 
seen  on  considering  the  subject  in  the  following  passages 
from  the  Service  for  the  Day  of  Atonement  :  ^ 

Thou  hast  given  us  in  love,  O  Lord  our  God,  this  Day  of 
Atonement  for  pardon,  forgiveness,  and  atonement,  that 
we  may  obtain  pardon  thereon  for  all  our  iniquities.  .  .  . 
Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  pardon  our  iniquities  on 
this  Day  of  Atonement  ;  blot  out  our  transgressions  and  our 
sins,  and  make  them  pass  away  from  before  Thine  eyes  ;  as 
it  is  said,  I,  even  I,  am  He  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgression 
for  mine  own  sake  ;  and  I  will  not  remember  thy  sins.  .  .  . 
Purify  our  hearts  to  serve  thee  in  truth  ;  for  thou  art  the 
forgiver  of  Israel  and  the  pardoner  of  the  tribes  of  Jeshurun 
in  every  generation,  and  beside  thee  we  have  no  king  who 
pardoneth  and  forgiveth.  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord,  thou 
King  who  pardonest  and  forgivest  our  iniquities  and  the 
iniquities  of  thy  people,  the  house  of  Israel,  who  makest  our 
trespasses  to  pass  away  year  by  year.  King  over  all  the 
earth,  who  sanctifiest  Israel  and  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

»  We  would  not  wish  to  fall  under  Mr.  C.  G.  Montefiore's 
censure  when  he  says  :  "  There  is  a  higher  and  a  lower  Jewish 
doctrine  on  the  subject  of  sin.  Yet  the  lower  doctrine  was 
never  taught  in  isolation  ;  it  is  only  so  presented  and  isolated  for 
controversial  puq:)Oses  by  modern  Christian  writers."  Liberal 
Judaism,  p.  36. 

*  See  Singer,  pp.  255-269. 


252    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Again,  confession  of  sins  could  scarcely  be  more 
adequately  expressed  than  by  the  follo\vdng  : 

We  have  trespassed,  we  have  been  faithless,  we  have 
robbed,  we  have  spoken  basely,  we  have  committed  iniquity, 
we  have  sought  unrighteousness,  we  have  been  presumptuous, 
we  have  done  violence,  we  have  forged  lies,  we  have  coun- 
selled evil,  we  have  spoken  falsely,  we  have  scoffed,  we  have 
revolted,  we  have  blasphemed,  we  have  been  rebelhous,  we 
have  acted  perversely,  we  have  transgressed,  we  have  per- 
secuted, we  have  been  stiff-necked,  we  have  done  wickedly, 
we  have  corrupted  ourselves,  we  have  committed  abomina- 
tion, we  have  gone  astray,  and  we  have  led  astray.  (On  the 
following  pages,  259-262,  there  is  a  most  minute  specification 
of  sins,  for  which  God's  pardon  is  sought.) 

When  one  reads  through  this  Service  for  the  Day  of 
Atonement,  one  can  understand  the  feeUng  that  prompts 
a  Jew  to  claim  for  Judaism  that  it  has  a  truer  conception 
of  the  sinfulness  of  Sin  than  any  other  religion  ;  were 
it  not  that  this  is  disproved  by  the  Jewish  doctrine  of 
atonement,  one  might  almost  feel  inchned  to  concede  a 
certain  amount  of  justification  for  the  claim. 

Quite  in  accordance  with  Christian  teaching  Judaism 
teaches  that  sin  estranges  from  God,  that  it  places  a  bar 
between  man  and  his  Creator.  "  He  that  transgresses, 
though  it  be  in  secret,  thrusts  God  away  from  him  " 
[Chagigah  16'').  Moreover,  modern  Judaism  teaches 
that  sincere  repentance  is  the  first  condition  of  reconcilia- 
tion ;  but  when  it  is  said  that  "  reconcihation  is  the 
cleansing  of  the  heart  from  the  defilement  of  transgres- 
sion," the  inference  suggested  is  that  repentance  is  not 
only  the  condition  of  reconcihation  with  God,  but  also 
the  means  of  cleansing  from  sin  ;  this  is  certainly  antagon- 
istic to  Christian  teaching  on  the  subject.  Still  more 
is  this  the  case  when  one  finds  the  possibihty  contemplated 
of  repentance  being  unnecessary  because  man  has  it  in 
his  power  to  avoid  sin  altogether,  or  when  certain  actions 
obhterate  sin.  In  Pirke  Ahoth  ii,  2,  which  is  incorporated 
into  the  modern  Jewish  Liturgy,  it  says  :  "  Rabban 
Gamahe],    the    son    of    Rabbi  Judah    the    Prince,  said, 


CONDITIONS   OF   FORGIVENESS  253 

'  An  excellent  thing  is  the  study  of  the  Torah  combined 
with  some  worldly  occupation,  for  the  labour  demanded 
by  them  both  makes  sin  to  be  forgotten.  .  .  .  Let  all  who 
are  employed  with  the  congregation  act  with  them  for 
Heaven's  sake,  for  then  the  merit  of  their  fathers  sustains 
them,  and  their  righteousness  endures  for  ever.'"  Again, 
we  are  told  that  "  Rabbi  Eleazar  held  that  residence 
in  the  Holy  Land  tends  to  prevent  sin."  ^  Another  Jewish 
teacher  says  :  "  One  must  always  consider  his  good 
and  evil  deeds  as  evenly  balanced  ;  he  will  appreciate 
the  danger  of  committing  even  one  sin,  which  would 
lower  the  scale  on  the  wrong  side."  ^  The  significance  of 
passages  like  these  (and  many  more  of  a  like  character 
could  be  cited)  lies  in  their  silence  regarding  any  divine 
action  which  would  lead  men  to  do  those  things  which 
help  him  to  abstain  from  sin  ;  Judaism  "  firmly 
maintains  the  principle  of  individual  responsibility  and 
the  freedom  of  the  will."  ^ 

But  further  :  Judaism  teaches  that  divine  forgiveness 
is  impossible  without  repentance  and  amendment  of  life  ; 
with  this,  as  far  as  it  goes,  Christian  teaching  is  in  entire 
accord.  But  when  it  is  held  further  that  the  essential 
condition  of  atonement  is  the  purifying  of  the  desire,  the 
ennobling  of  the  will,  then  Christians  see  themselves  bound 
to  differ  ;  yet  this  is  the  teaching  of  a  recognized  modern 
Jewish  teacher.  Mr.  Morris  Joseph,  in  his  Judaism  as 
Creed  and  Life,  says  :  "  We  speak  of  reconciliation  and 
pardon  ;  but  what  are  they  save  figures  of  speech  ? 
The  reconciliation  we  have  really  to  effect  is  with  our 
higher  selves,  with  our  conscience  which  we  have 
outraged,  with  our  souls  which  we  have  sullied.  The 
changeless  mind  of  God  knows  no  such  mutations  as  are 
implied  in  the  idea  of  wrath.  What  we  style  His  anger  is 
really  the  resentment  of  our  better  nature,  its  stern  protest 

»  JE,  xi,  379. 

*  Ibid.        3  S.  Levy,  Original  Virtue  and  other  short  studies,  p.  55. 


254     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

against  the  shame  in  which  our  sin  has  involved  us.  And 
so  with  forgiveness.  Changefulness,  such  as  the  notion 
of  pardon  would  attribute  to  Him,  is  inconceivable  in  the 
Perfect  One.  If  He  knows  not  the  feehng  of  anger,  He 
knows  not  the  change  involved  in  forgiveness.  The 
only  reconciliation  possible  for  us  is  self-reconciliation. 
And  by  that  self-reconcihation  it  is  that  we,  again 
figuratively  speaking,  make  our  peace  with  God.  We 
who  have  put  ourselves  far  from  Him,  we  whose  iniquities 
have,  in  prophetic  phrase, '  separated  between  us  and  our 
God,' — '  raised  a  barrier  of  iron,'  in  the  words  of  the 
Rabbins — between  us  and  Him,  go  back  to  Him  in 
thought  and  feehng  Hke  a  wayward  child  to  the  father  it 
has  offended  ;  we  break  down  the  obstacles  to  spiritual 
union  with  Him  that  our  iniquity  has  created,  and  that 
sense  of  recovered  fellowship  we  call  forgiveness."  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  the  exceedingly  illogical  position 
here  taken  up  would  be  altogether  repudiated  by  Ortho- 
dox Judaism,  for  we  have  seen  that  the  Jewish  Liturgy 
has  a  far  more  exalted  doctrine  than  this  on  Forgiveness 
and  Sin.  It  has  constantly  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  in 
dealing  with  the  beliefs  of  Modern  Judaism,  there  is 
often  a  wide  difference  between  those  of  orthodox  Jews, 
who  still  hold  to  the  traditional  religion  of  their  forefathers 
and  who  comprise  the  vast  majority  of  the  Jews — and 
those  of  Reform  and  semi-Reform  Judaism  ;  for  the 
tenets  of  these  latter  see  Chapter  VI,  §  viii. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE   JEWISH    DOCTRINE   OF   BAPTISM. 

The  Original  Signification  of  the  Jewish  Rite — Did  Jewish  Baptism 
partake  of  the  Nature  of  a  Sacrament  ? — Old  Testament  Baptism 
Sacramental  in  Character — Tebilah  not  a  Sacrament— Essene 
Baptism  Sacramental. 

Already  before  the  advent  of  Christ  it  had  been  laid 
down  by  the  Jewish  rehgious  authorities  that  when 
proselytes  were  admitted  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
"  Covenant  People,"  they  should  seal  their  acceptance  of 
the  new  faith  by  a  threefold  rite. 

Firstly,  they  had  to  be  circumcised  ;  this  was  natural 
when  one  remembers  that  from  the  time  of  the  Babylonian 
Captivity,  at  least,  this  rite  and  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  had  been  the  distinguishing  marks  of  Judaism. 
Secondly,  they  had  to  be  baptized  ;  of  this  more  pre- 
sently. And  thirdly,  they  had  to  offer  sacrifice.  The 
object  of  this  one  can  understand,  for  sacrifice  with 
special  intention  (whether  a  propitiation  or  a  sin-offering, 
etc.)  had  for  long  been  the  foremost  visible  expression  of 
worship  among  the  Jews. 

That  Jews  should  have  insisted  on  Baptism  ^  is  of 
especial  interest  to  Christians,  and  it  is  worth  while  to 
inquire  a  httle  into  the  subject.  Two  points  of  inquiry 
suggest  themselves  : 

1.  What   was   the   original    signification   of    the    rite 

among  the  Jews  ? 

2.  Did  it  partake  of  the  nature  of  a  Sacrament  ? 

I.  The  Hebrew  word  for  Baptism  is  Tebilah ;  the 
actual  word  does  not  occur  in  BibHcal  Hebrew  :   but  its 


^  In  later  times  (i.e.,  during  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity) 
it  became  a  burning  question  among  the  Rabbis  whether  Circum- 
cision without  Baptism  was  sufficient  ;  some  maintained  that 
Baptism  alone  sufficed  ! 

255 


256    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

root  [TaBaL),  which  contains  the  fundamental  significa- 
tion, is  met  with  fairly  frequently  in  the  Old  Testament, 
e.g.,  Exod.  12^2  :  Ye  shall  take  a  hunch  of  hyssop  and  dip 
(tabal)  it  in  the  blood  that  is  in  the  basin ;  see,  too.  Lev. 
4^,  9^,  14^ ;  Lev.  14*^"^^  is,  however,  the  most  important 
passage,  at  all  events  in  the  Pentateuch  ;  here  the  ritual 
for  the  cleansing  and  making  atonement  of  a  plague- 
stricken  house  is  described.  The  priest  takes  two  birds, 
cedar  wood,  scarlet  and  hyssop  ;  he  kills  one  of  the  birds 
in  an  earthen  vessel  over  running  water,  which  is  conceived 
of  as  "  living  "  ;  then  he  takes  the  hving  bird,  with  the 
cedar  wood,  scarlet  and  hyssop,  and  dips  them  all  first 
in  the  blood  of  the  slain  bird,  and  then  in  the  "  Hving  " 
water ;  having  done  this,  he  takes  them  all  in  his  hands 
and  sprinkles  the  house  seven  times  with  them.  In  this 
way  he  "  cleanses  the  house."  The  real  significance  of 
the  rite  lies  in  the  atonement  made  by  means  of  blood  and 
the  purification  by  means  of  living  water  ;  this  corre- 
sponds precisely  to  the  later  :  Repent  and  he  baptized, 
which  was  the  kernel  of  the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist, 
as  well  as,  later  on,  of  the  Apostles  (see  Acts  2^^). 
Further  hght  is  thrown  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  as 
used  in  2  Kings  5^* :  He  dipped  himself  seven  times  in 
the  Jordan  ;  clearly  it  is  total  immersion  that  is  here 
referred  to.  Then,  again,  the  word  is  used  synonymously 
with  "washing"  (rachatz)  in  this  section  (vv.  10-14), 
which  is  the  same  word  used  by  the  Psalmist  :  /  will 
wash  my  hands  in  innocency  (Ps.  26^). 

Thus,  according  to  the  Old  Testament,  the  original 
signification  of  the  rite  contained  two  ideas  :  (i) 
Cleansing  ;  (2)  Total  immersion  in  the  cleansing  element. 

In  accordance  with  this,  Jewish  Baptism  always  implied 
total  immersion  ;  for  without  this,  part  of  the  significance 
of  the  rite  would  have  been  lost.  It  was,  moreover,  only 
fit  and  natural  that  the  proselyte  should  have  witnesses 
to  his  Baptism  ;  this  was,  therefore,  also  the  invariable 
custom. 


CEREMONIAL   PURIFICATIONS  257 

But  there  were  other  kinds  of  "  Baptism,"  which  were 
in  form  and  conception  more  or  less  similar  to  that  just 
mentioned,  but  which  belonged  to  a  somewhat  different 
category  ;  these  were  ceremonial  purifications,  undertaken 
to  obhterate  "  uncleanness  "  of  one  kind  or  another;  see 
e.g.,  Num.  19,  where  several  instructive  examples  will  be 
found. 

Different  as  these  latter  are  in  degree  from  Baptism  in 
the  more  usual  sense  of  the  word,  both  have  this  in  common, 
that  the  washing  has  the  effect  of  taking  away  something 
that  is  offensive  to  God,  something  which  debars  a  man 
from  intercourse  with  God,  In  the  one  case,  it  is  contact 
with  something  unclean  which  prohibits  a  man  from 
worshipping  God  until  he  has  been  ritually  cleansed  ; 
in  the  other,  it  is  such  a  thing  as  disease,  e.g.  leprosy, 
from  the  taint  of  which  a  man  must  be  purified  before  he 
is  fit  to  come  into  the  presence  of  God.  It  cannot  be 
doubted  that  in  the  first  instance  both  of  these  came  under 
one  and  the  same  category  ;  but  at  a  comparatively 
early  period  the  two  must  have  been  differentiated,  and 
for  this  reason  :  according  to  the  Jewish  doctrine  of  Sin, 
all  sickness  was  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  wrath  of 
God  for  transgression  ;  leprosy,  for  example,  was  not 
only  the  symbol  of  a  polluted  soul,  but  also  the  sign  that 
the  soul  was  polluted,  and  that  God  was  punishing  the 
leper  by  means  of  the  disease.  Clearly,  therefore,  when 
once  this  behef  (which  has  perhaps  more  truth  in  it  than 
many  people  think,  'see  i  Cor.  ii^^'  ^^)  arose,  there  was 
bound  to  ensue  a  discrimination  between  the  impurity 
contracted,  for  example,  by  touching  a  dead  body  (Num. 
19^®'^'),  and  that  which,  for  example,  leprosy  entailed. 
This  leads  us  to  our  second  question  : — 

2.  Did  Jewish  Baptism  partake  of  the  nature  of  a 
Sacrament  ?  Did,  in  other  words,  the  Jews  believe  that 
through  material  means  spiritual  grace  was  conferred  ? 
This  is  a  difficult  question  to  answer,  and  the  answer  will 
differ  according  to  different   periods  of  Jewish  history. 

18— (3417) 


258    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

One  or  two  preliminary  considerations  may  be  of  assist- 
ance in  discussing  the  question.  Circumcision  ^  never, 
among  the  Israehtes,  partook  of  a  sacramental  character  ; 
it  was  merely  an  outward  sign,  a  sign  that  a  covenant 
had  been  made  with  Jehovah.  Not  so,  however,  with 
many  other  peoples  ;  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show 
that,  as  practised  by  a  number  of  more  primitive  races, 
circumcision  was  a  sacrament, — of  course,  according  to 
primitive  conceptions.  We  are  not,  however,  concerned 
with  this  here  ;  neither  Israelites  nor,  later  on,  Jews 
regarded  it  as  other  than  a  badge. 

Then,  again,  it  is  very  interesting  to  note  that,  though 
the  Jews,  during  the  two  or  three  centuries  before  and 
after  the  birth  of  Christianity,  had  no  rites  which  partook 
of  a  sacramental  character,  yet  aU  the  various  other  faiths 
which  existed  at  this  period  had  sacraments  which  formed 
almost  the  core  of  such  faiths  ;  the  religions  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  Mithraism  and  Christianity,  all  had  outward 
rites  which  were  believed  to  be  the  means  of  conferring 
spiritual  grace.  But  the  Jews  had  none  such.  We  shall 
return  presently  to  the  belief  of  the  early  Israelites  which 
differed  in  this  respect  from  later  Judaism.  But  it  is  worth 
asking  first,  how  one  is  to  account  for  the  following  facts  : 
Among  primitive  races  sacraments  are  the  rule  ;  among 
the  early  Israelites,  as  will  be  shown,  they  existed  ;  among 
the  cultured  Greeks  and  Romans  they  existed  ;  among 
Christians,  whose  behef  is  the  most  advanced,  and  there- 
fore the  most  spiritual,  of  all  religions,  sacraments  were, 
and  are,  the  condition  of  salvation  ^ ;  and  yet  the  Jews 
had  no  sacraments,  nor  have  they  to-day.  How  is  one 
to  account  for  these  facts  of  (i)  Sacraments  being  char- 
acteristic of    the  earliest    and    latest    forms  of    belief, 

1  Its  origin  is  involved  in  obscurity  ;  it  was  very  widely  prac- 
tised among  an  immense  variety  of  peoples,  and  at  the  present 
day  many  savage  tribes  practise  the  rite,  see  Chap,  xxi,  §  i. 

«  See  the  Church  Catechism,  which  reflects  the  teaching  of 
the  early  Chui'ch. 


SACRAMENTS  259 

including  the  religion  of  Israel,  and  (2)  of  the  Jews  being 
without  them  ?  ^  The  answer  is  of  extreme  importance, 
but  for  an  adequate  answer  a  treatise  would  be  required. 
We  conceive  that  the  answer  would  run  somewhat  on 
these  lines  : — 

All  primitive  races,  from  the  first  dawn  of  understanding, 
have  received  the  divine  revelation,  in  small  measure — 
in  very  small  measure — but  nevertheless  in  some  measure  ; 
if  this  were  not  granted,  it  would  be  difficult  to  believe 
that  God  has  existed  from  all  time  ;  for,  if  this  latter 
be  true,  is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  God  ever  having 
not  taken  a  deep  interest  in  His  highest  creation  ? 
Primitive  man,  therefore,  received,  in  part,  the  divine 
revelation  ;  he  therefore  had  his  sacraments,  the  most 
astonishing  of  which  was  the  widely-spread  sacrificial 
meal,  which  had  for  its  object  the  bringing  about  of  a 
union  between  the  worshipper  and  his  God.'*  We, 
nowadays,  speak  of  these  kinds  of  sacraments  as  Magic, 
and  from  our  point  of  view  that  is,  of  course,  right  ;  but 
to  early  peoples  they  were  as  really  sacraments  as  the 
Christian  sacraments  are  to  us  ;  their  mental  state  only 
permitted  of  their  receiving  the  divine  revelation  in 
small  measure.  Their  sacraments  possessed  a  germ  of 
truth.  As  the  divine  revelation  gradually  became  fuller, 
and  man  learned  more  about  God,  he  realized  that  while 
his  conceptions  with  regard  to  sacraments  were  in  great 
part  crass,  yet  that  some  truth  lay  in  them  ;  the  intensely 
difficult  task  lay  before  man  to  preserve  the  truth  and 
discard  the  crass.  In  these  three  :  in  Jewish  history 
(up  to  the  present  day),  in  the  history  of  Paganism,  and 
in  the  history  of  Christianity,  we  have,  quite  roughly 
speaking,  three  courses  indicated  :   that  which  discarded 

^  The  term  "Jewish"  is  not  properly  applied  to  the  nation 
until  after  the  Captivity. 

*  For  proof  of  this  statement  recourse  must  be  had  to  works 
which  enumerate  the  facts,  such  as  J.  G.  Frazer's  The  Golden 
Bough,  Robertson  Smith's  Religion  of  the  Semites,  Jevon's  Intro- 
duction to  the  History  of  Religion,  etc. 


260    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  crass  and  the  truth-germ  with  it  ;  that  which  went  on 
as  before  and  came  to  an  end  because  a  middle  course 
was  impossible  ;  and  that  which  discarded  the  crass,  but 
retained  the  truth-germ,  and  nourished  it. 

Thus  Baptism  among  the  Jews  did  not  partake  of  a 
sacramental  character  ;  but  it  ought  to  have  done  so 
logically,  because,  as  we  conceive,  the  prototype  of 
Baptism  among  the  Israelites  did  partake  of  a  sacramental 
character.  Here,  again,  want  of  space  forbids  a  detailed 
proof,  and  we  can  but  point  out  a  few  facts  that  make 
it  reasonably  certain  that  the  prototype  of  Jewish  Baptism 
among  the  Israelites  was  in  some  sense  regarded  as  a 
Sacrament,  i.e.,  that  the  visible  rite  conferred  inward 
grace.  One  must  remember  that  grace,  in  the  early 
Israelite  sense,  though  just  as  real  to  Israehtes  as  grace 
in  our  sense  of  the  word  is  to  us,  was  nevertheless  not 
of  the  same  spiritual  kind  as  what  we  understand  by  it 
now  ;  that  is,  of  course,  obvious. 

The  main  line  of  argument  is  naturally  dependent  upon 
the  early  doctrine  of  Sin  among  the  Israelites  ;  if  it  can 
be  shown  that,  in  any  sense,  washing  had  the  effect  of 
taking  away  sin  of  any  kind,  then  it  will  follow  that  the 
germ,  at  least,  of  a  sacrament  was  inherent  in  the  Israelite 
rite  of  Ablution — the  prototype  of  Baptism. 

I.  That,  as  already  remarked,  sickness  was  popularly 
regarded  as  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  wrath  of  God 
for  sin  committed  will  be  clear  from  one  or  two  examples  : 

Exod.  42*  25 .  Jehovah  is  represented  as  seeking  to 
kill  Moses  apparently  because  his  son  was  not  circum- 
cized  ;  non -circumcision  was  in  early  Israel,  as  well  as 
in  later  days,  regarded  as  a  grievous  sin. 

Exod.  II  *"^ :  It  is  said  that  Jehovah  would  slay  the 
first-bom  of  the  Egyptians  as  the  result  of  Pharaoh's 
hardness  of  heart,  cf.  2.  Sam.  7^^  ff. 

Num.   12^"^^ :     One     could    not    well    have    a    more 

striking  passage  than  this  ;    Miriam  questions  whether 

he  Lord  has  spoken  by   Moses  alone,  and  holds  that  He 


ABLUTION  261 

has  spoken  by  Aaron  and  by  her  as  well.  As  a  result  of 
this  sin  against  the  unique  God-given  authority  of  Moses, 
Miriam  becomes  a  leper  (v.  lo). 

1.  Sam  25^^' 3^:  Here  we  read  that  the  Lord  smote 
Nabal  that  he  died  ;  the  reason  is  given  in  David's  words  : 
Blessed  he  the  Lord,  that  hath  pleaded  the  cause  of  my 
reproach  from  the  hand  of  Nabal,  and  hath  kept  back  his 
servant  from  evil :  and  the  evil-doing  of  Nabal  hath  the 
Lord  returned  upon  his  own  head. 

Isa.  53^"^.  The  Man  of  sorrow  and  sickness  (the  Hebrew 
for  "  griefs  "  in  verse  4  means  "  sicknesses  ")  is  regarded  by 
the  people,  whom  the  prophet  is  instructing,  as  suffering 
God's  chastisement  for  his  own  sins  :  We  did  esteem  him 
stricken  ;   smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted. 

These  instances  will  suffice,  though  they  might  be 
considerably  increased.  They  make  it  quite  clear  that 
sickness  and  death  were  looked  upon  as  sent  by  God  in 
consequence  of  sin. 

2.  We  turn  now  to  some  actual  instances  of  ablution  : — 
Lev.  1513  •     A  man  who  has  an  "  issue  "  is  required  to 

bathe  (wash)  in  "  living  "  water,  and  he  will  be  clean.  H 
the  "  issue  "  is  a  manifestation  of  divine  wrath  for  sin 
committed,  and  if  the  washing  takes  away  that  mani- 
festation, then  it  must,  logically,  have  been  believed  that 
that  of  which  the  "  issue  "  was  the  visible  sign  must 
have  been  taken  away  too.  If  this  reasoning  be  correct, 
it  foUows  that  the  outward  act  of  washing  was  believed 
to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the  transgressor  and 
his  God ;  and  this  is  essentially  a  Sacrament.  The 
expression,  "  living  water,"  is  fuU  of  meaning  ;  it  derived 
its  "  life  "  from  the  spirit  which  (in  early  times)  was 
beheved  to  dweU  in  it.  "  Holy  "  wells  were  believed  to 
be  the  domiciles  of  powerful  spirits,  and  their  "energy  " 
was  conceived  of  as  belonging  inherently  to  the  water 
in  which  they  dwelt.  In  later  times  this  belief  was 
discarded,  but  the  expression  "  living  water "  was 
still  retained  ;    and  it  was  still  popularly  supposed  that 


262    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  water  itself,  though  not  the  spirit's  power  in  it,  took 
away  the  illness  or  sign  of  divine  wrath,  and  therefore 
the  sin  of  which  it  was  the  sign. 

Num.  8''  ^ :  Before  the  Levites  were  fit  to  enter  upon 
their  duties,  there  were  certain  ceremonies  to  be  gone 
through,  which  had  the  effect  of  cleansing  them  from  their 
sins.  They  had  first  to  be  sprinkled  with  the  "  waters 
of  expiation  "  (lit.  ■'  the  waters  of  sin  "),  then  they  had 
to  shave  and  wash  ;  after  that  they  had  to  offer  up  a 
"  sin-offering,"  i.e.,  an  offering  which  takes  away  sin. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  we  have  here  an  instance 
of  duphcation  to  make  certainty  doubly  sure.  The  water 
took  away  the  sin,  but  to  make  certain,  in  such  special 
cases  as  the  sanctification  of  the  Levites  to  their  holy  office, 
a  sin-offering  also  is  offered.  The  two  are  analogous 
rites,  as  their  name  implies,  viz.,  "  waters  of  sin  "  means 
water  that  takes  away  sin,  "  sin-offering "  means  an 
offering  that  takes  away  sin.  So  that  the  very  existence 
of  such  an  expression  as  "  waters  of  sin  "  shows  that  this 
use  of  water  constituted  a  sacrament. 

Lev.  I4^~^2 :  Without  going  into  details,  which  would 
take  up  too  much  space,  it  will  be  found  on  reading  this 
passage  that  the  recovered  leper  had,  among  other  things, 
to  wash  in  "  living  "  water  and  offer  a  sin-offering.  This 
in  the  case  of  a  leper  was  of  still  greater  significance  than 
in  the  example  just  cited,  inasmuch  as  leprosy  was  j)ar 
excellence  the  symbol  of  sin — in  early  days  the  result  of 
sin.  The  recovered  leper,  according  to  this  passage,  had 
a  long  series  of  purifications  to  go  through  before  the 
taint  of  sin  could  be  removed.  This  passage  is  especially 
instructive,  because  it  is  not  the  leprosy  itself  which  the 
man  was  being  cleansed  from,  for  in  vv.  3  and  4  the  direc- 
tions given  are  :  "  .  .  .  And  the  priest  shall  look,  and, 
behold,  if  the  plague  of  leprosy  he  healed  in  the  leper,  then 
shall  the  priest  command  .  .  ."  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  actual 
physical  disease  had  departed  before  the  cleansing 
process  was  undertaken.     It  would  seem  that  the  invisible 


RITUAL  WASHING  263 

taint  of  sin  (as  distinct  from  its  visible  manifestation), 
on  account  of  which  the  divine  visitation,  in  the  shape 
of  leprosy,  had  overtaken  the  man,  was  that  which  the 
cleansing  process  was  intended  to  purify  ;  for  the  man 
could  not  enter  into  God's  presence  for  worship  until  he 
had  washed,  etc.  It  is  thus  difficult  to  get  away  from 
the  conviction  that  this  "  washing  "  contains  the  elements 
of  a  sacrament.  In  some  passages  in  which  "  washing  " 
is  referred  to  it  is  mentioned  in  connexion  with  "  sancti- 
f\dng  "  ;  indeed,  it  would  appear  that  the  act  of  "  sancti- 
fying oneself  "  consisted  in  washing.  This  is  certainly  the 
sense  in  Deut.  19^°"^*.  To  "  sanctify  oneself  "  is  "  to 
make  oneself  holy  "  ;  if,  therefore,  washing  was  the  act, 
or  part  of  the  act,  of  sanctifying  oneself,  it  can  scarcely 
be  denied  that  it  was  regarded  as  a  sacramental  act. 

Lastly,  there  is  the  expression  of  "  washing  the  hands  " 
as  a  sign  of  innocency,  as  found  in  Deut.  21*"*^  and  in 
Ps.  26'.  Even  though  this  be  but  a  symbol,  or  a  poetical 
expression,  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  symbol 
is  the  natural  descendant  of  a  rite  which  was  originally 
more  than  a  symbol.  Though  actual  proof  may  not  be 
forthcoming  in  this  case,  analogies  could  be  cited  to  show 
that  it  is  highly  probable  that  at  one  time  the  ritual,  the 
visible  act  of  washing  the  hands,  was  beheved  to  be  the 
counterpart  of  an  invisible  taking  away  of  transgression, 
i.e.  a  sacrament. 

We  have  dwelt  somew^hat  at  length  upon  this  point 
because  it  is  one  of  importance.  The  conclusion,  however, 
is  that  in  early  Israel  ritual  washing,  the  prototype  of 
Baptism,  was  a  sacramental  act  ;  logically,  therefore,  the 
Baptism  [Tehilah)  of  later  Judaism  ought  to  have  been  a 
sacrament,  but  it  was  not. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  interesting  to  notice  that 
Baptism  among  the  Essenes  was  distinctly  a  Sacrament  ^  ; 

*  This  is  vividly  brought  out,  for  example,  in  the  pseud- 
epigraphic  work,  The  Life  of  Adam  and  Eve,  believed  to  be  of  Essene 
origin. 


264     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

moreover,  the  formula  with  which  John  the  Baptist 
must  so  often  have  prefaced  his  preaching — Repent  and 
he  baptized — imphes  that  he  regarded  Baptism  as  a 
sacrament.  These  two  pre-Christian  examples  of  Baptism 
being  regarded  as  a  Sacrament  are  instructive,  because 
the  Essenes  and  the  followers  of  the  Baptist  certainly 
possessed  a  more  spiritual  form  of  religion  than  the 
orthodox  Jew.  That  Baptism  is  not  now  practised  by 
the  Jews  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  it 
has  become  a  distinctively  Christian  rite. 

For  further  details  regarding  the  Rabbinic  practice 
of  baptizing  proselytes,  see  Edersheim,  Life  and 
Times.   .   .   .   Vol.  ii,  App.  xii. 


PART  III.     PRACTICAL  RELIGION 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Education  and  Life  of  the  Jew. 

What  is  a  Jew  ? — Early  Years — Education  of  Children~C heeler  and 
Religious  Instruction — Hebrew  and  Yiddish — Bar  Mitzvah — 
Higher    Instruction. 

I 

As  a  preliminary  to  the  attempt  to  form  some  general 
conception  of  the  life  and  education  of  the  Jew  as  a  whole, 
it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  within  the  ranks  of  Judaism 
itself  the  different  types  that  are  included  under  the 
designation  "  Jew."  What  is  a  Jew  ?  He  is,  strictly, 
a  member  of  that  particular  branch  of  the  Semitic  race 
which,  within  historical  times,  had  its  centre  in  the 
province  of  Judaea,  and  was  dispersed  from  that  centre. 
As  this  race  has,  on  the  whole,  maintained  its  separateness 
and  identity — though  scattered  all  over  the  world,  and 
for  ages  past  deprived  of  its  national  centre — and  as  it 
consistently  refuses  to  intermarry  with  other  populations, 
it  is  strictly  accurate  to  describe  its  members  as  Jews 
(i.e.  Judahites).  The  underlying  unity  which  binds 
together  the  whole  mass  of  Jews  the  world  over,  and  in 
which  the  many  external  differences  of  language,  social 
customs,  and  local  pecuharities  are  reconciled,  is 
fundamentally  racial. 

It  is  in  this  light  that  the  Jew  is  regarded  by  the  average 
non-Jew.  The  latter  "  knows  Jewry  by  its  descent 
rather  than  its  creed.  Indeed,"  says  Mr.  Arnold  White, 
"  the  peculiar  characteristics  usually  associated  with  the 
Hebrew  community  are  not  religious  but  racial.  The 
quarrel  of  un-Christlike  Christendom  with  the  Judaism 
that  has  broken  with  Moses  is  not  a  question  of  faith  ; 
265 


266    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

it  is  a  matter  of  character  and  habit  engendered  partly 
by  Oriental  origin  and  Semitic  exclusiveness,  and  partly, 
perhaps  principally,  by  qualities  acquired  by  the  race 
through  centuries  of  persecution  and  cruelty  at  the 
hands  of  the  followers  of  the  Nazarene  under  the  operation 
of  the  first  law  of  Nature — the  wish  to  live.'"  But 
it  would  be  a  great  mistake,  and  would  argue  a  merely 
superficial  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  to  regard  the 
Jew  as  merely  the  representative  of  a  pecuhar  race. 
How  comes  it  about  that  this  race  has  been  able  to 
maintain  itself  in  such  numbers  against  the  almost 
intolerable  pressure  of  ahen  forces  in  the  Western  world  ? 
The  answer  is,  The  preservation  of  the  race  is  due  to  the 
intensity  and  dominance  of  its  religion.  It  may  be  doubted 
if  any  religious  system  has  ever  been  so  thoroughly  and 
consistently  applied  and  carried  out  in  practice  by  a 
community  of  people  as  has  Judaism  for  long  periods  by 
the  Jewish  race.  Jewish  history,  regarded  from  this  point 
of  view,  affords  a  phenomenon  without  a  parallel.  The 
true  key,  then,  for  unlocking  the  Jewish  enigma  is  the 
study  of  Jewish  religion. 

From  this  point  of  view,  the  religious  Jew,  the  man 
who,  in  Jewish  parlance,  is  "  froom,"  or  pious,  is  the 
truly  typical  Jew.  There  are,  of  course,  other  types  of 
Jews.  Mr.  Arnold  White,  in  his  book,  The  Modern 
Jew,  divides  English  Jews  into  four  classes — viz.  (i) 
the  Jewish  aristocracy,  at  whose  houses  one  never  meets 
an  untitled  Jew  ;  (2)  the  highly-educated,  anghcized 
Jews,  who  refuse  intermarriage,  but,  generally  speaking, 
are  by  no  means  "froom."  Jews  of  this  type  throng 
the  professions  ;  (3)  the  rich  cosmopolitan  Jew,  whose 
God  is  money,  who  is  aUke  destitute  of  patriotism  and 
religion  ;  who  is,  in  fact,  a  materiahst  of  the  worst  and 
most  dangerous  kind,  and  who  is  a  fount  of  social  poison  ; 
(4)  the  destitute  alien. 


The   Modern    Jeiv,   p.   4. 


THE   RELIGIOUS   TYPE   OF   JEW  267 

Mr.  White  has,  however,  omitted  to  mention  a  fifth 
class,  with  whom  we  shall  be  largely  concerned,  as  this 
class  is,  perhaps,  the  best  exponent  of  the  special  and 
characteristic  quahties  of  Jewish  rehgion.  We  mean 
the  alien  who  is  not  destitute.  The  religious  Jew  is  the 
truly  typical  Jew,  because  all  other  types  are  modifica- 
tions, and  not  by  any  means  always  desirable  modifications, 
of  the  religious  original.  The  religious  type  is  pre- 
supposed by,  and  explains,  the  rest.  Even  when  a  Jew 
has  given  up  his  ancestral  rehgion  and  professes  "  free- 
thinking  "  principles,  he  is,  in  a  way  he  may  not  always 
be  fully  conscious  of,  still  largely  under  the  dominion 
of  forces  and  tendencies  which  not  infrequently  re-assert 
themselves,  and  which  find  their  true  explanation  in 
the  past  religious  history  of  the  race.  An  exquisite 
characterization  of  this  type  of  Jew  is  given  in  the 'pathetic 
and  powerful  study,  entitled  "  Chad  Gadya,"  in  Mr. 
Zangwill's  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto. 

The  dominant  note,  then,  of  Jewish  hfe  and  education 
is  religion,  or  at  least  rehgious  observance.  Religion 
pervades  not  only  the  Synagogue,  but  the  Home.  As  will 
be  seen,  later,  the  Home  is  an  almost  more  important 
centre  of  religious  observance  than  the  Synagogue  itself. 
The  great  Passover  commemoration,  for  instance,  is 
mainly  a  Festival  of  the  Home.  The  Home  is  thus  the 
centre  on  which  the  affections  and  leisure  of  the  typical 
Jew  are  concentrated.  In  it  the  Hfe  and  strength  of 
Judaism    find    their    citadel. 

II.  Early  Years. 
The  important  moments  in  the  hfe  of  the  Jew,  from 
birth  to  death,  are  all  invested  with  a  religious  sanction 
and  a  rehgious  significance.  The  atmosphere  into  which 
the  Jewish  child  is  born,  and  in  which  it  grows  up,  is 
crowded  with  associations,  symbols  and  observances, 
which  are  bound  up  with  the  past  religious  history  of 
the  race. 


268    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

In  the  case  of  boys,  the  rite  of  initiation  into  the 
covenant  of  Abraham  {Berith  Milah — i.e.,  "  Covenant 
of  Circumcision")  is  carried  out  by  the  Mohel,  usually  at 
home,  but  sometimes  in  the  Synagogue  after  morning 
service.  In  some  places  it  has  been  customary  for  friends 
to  visit  the  house  during  the  week  preceding  this  ceremony, 
to  pray  for  the  welfare  of  the  new-bom  infant,  and  for 
boys  to  recite  there  Bibhcal  passages,  such  as  Gen.  48", 
Jacob's  blessing  on  Joseph's  sons — "  The  Angel  which 
redeemed  me  from  all  evil  bless  the  lads  ;  and  let  my 
name  be  named  on  them,  and  the  name  of  my  fathers 
Abraham  and  Isaac ;  and  let  them  grow  into  a  multitude 
in  the  midst  of  the  earth  !  "  A  favourite  day  for  such  a 
visit  was  the  Friday  before  the  ceremony,  and  the  occasion 
was  looked  upon  as  one  for  hospitality.  The  night 
before  the  ceremony  was  spent  in  reading  Bible  and 
Talmud,  so  that  the  child  might  from  the  beginning 
breathe,  as  it  were,  the  atmosphere  of  Torah  (Friedlander). 
Other  quaint  local  customs,  expressing  the  same  idea, 
are  also  met  with. 

Some  interesting  features  connected  with  the  rite 
itself  are  also  worth  noting.  The  service  used  can  be 
seen  in  Singer's  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Prayer-Book  (in 
Hebrew  and  Enghsh)  on  p.  304.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
a  prominent  personage  at  the  ceremony  is  the  Sandek, 
or  godfather,  also  called  "  Gevatter,"  after  the  German 
name,  upon  whose  knees  the  child  is  placed  during  the 
performance  of  the  rite,  and  who  is  also  sometimes  called 
the  Baal  Berith  {"  Master  of  the  Covenant  "). 

Now  this  word  Sandek  is  no  other  than  the  Greek 
word  crui/Te/cvo?,  the  Greek  ecclesiastical  term  for  god- 
father. It  was  the  crvvreKvo^  who  lifted  the  neophyte 
from  the  baptismal  waters.  Apparently  in  Italy  it  was 
customary  to  have  two  Sandeks.  The  Sandek  does  not 
appear  in  the  Jewish  service  till  the  tenth  century  of 
our  era.  The  Sandek' s  place  in  the  ceremony  is  near  the 
seat  of  honour  called  "  the  throne  of -Elijah,"  on  which 


CIRCUMCISION  269 

the  child  is  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  ceremony, 
immediately  before  the  performance  of  the  rite. 

Dr.  Friedlander  explains  the  "  throne  of  Elijah  "  as 
symbolically  representing  "  the  religious  enthusiasm 
required  for  the  performance  of  this  mitzvah  "  (or  religious 
duty),  as  Elijah  figures  in  Jewish  tradition  as  "  the  type 
of  religious  zeal."  But,  as  Professor  Schechter  has 
pointed  out,^  Elijah  is  supposed  to  be  the  angel  of  the 
covenant,  and  in  this  capacity  to  preside  over  the  rite. 
This  is  no  doubt  the  right  explanation.  The  godfather 
among  the  Jews  also  has  the  privilege  of  being  expected 
to  make  a  present  to  the  child — a  silver  cup,  usually — 
sometimes  also  to  the  child's  mother. 

Another  important  feature  associated  with  this  cere- 
mony is  the  Naming  of  the  child.  This  has  been  the 
custom  among  the  Jews  since  post-exihc  times.  One 
will  naturally  think  in  this  connexion  of  the  case  of  John 
the  Baptist,  who  received  his  name  of  John  on  the  eighth 
day,  under  remarkable  circumstances,  as  recorded  in 
Luke  i39. 

The  last  clause  of  the  final  prayer  in  the  present 
Jewish  Service  is  worth  quoting  here.  It  runs  :  "  The 
little  child  (then  follows  the  child's  name)  may  he  become 
great.  Even  as  he  has  entered  into  the  Covenant,  so 
may  he  enter  into  the  Law,  the  nuptial  canopy,  and  into 
good  deeds." 

Then  follows  an  interesting  piece  of  ritual. 

The  godfather  drinks  of  the  wine  ;  a  few  drops  are  given 
to  the  infant,  and  the  Cup  of  Blessing  being  sent  unto  the 
mother,  she  also  partakes  thereof.  Wine,  the  reader  may  be 
reminded,  plays  a  great  part  in  Jewish  religious  rites,  and 
is  a  natural  symbol  of  thanksgiving.  Immediately  after 
the  rite  of  initiation  there  follows  a  festival-meal  in  honour 
of  the  event.     This  is  a  much  more  ancient  institution 

»  Studies  in  Judaism,  chap,  xii  ("  The  Child  in  Jewish 
Literature  "). 


270    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

than  that  of  the  Sandek.  Jewish  legend,  in  order  to 
emphasize  this  fact,  "  supphes  many  particulars  of  the 
dinner  the  patriarch  Abraham  gave  at  the  Berith  of  his 
son  Isaac."  ^  A  special  grace  to  follow  this  meal  is  given 
in  the  Jewish  Prayer-Book,  p.  306  fol. 

In  the  case  of  a  first-born  son  there  also,  at  one  time, 
followed  another  interesting  ceremony/,  known  as  "  the 
Redemption  of  the  First-Bom  "  (Heb.,  Pidyon  ha-Ben).^ 

This  took  place,  in  accordance  with  the  Bibhcal  injunc- 
tion (Exod.  34^°),  when  the  child  (the  custom,  however, 
does  not  apply  when  the  child  is  the  son  of  a  Levite) 
was  one  month  old.  A  payment  of  five  shekels  (15s.) 
was  given  to  a  Cohen,  or  descendant  of  Aaron  (Numb. 
18^^),  and  this  occasion  was  also  utihzed  for  a  festival- 
banquet.  A  special  service  for  this  rite  is  still  provided 
in  the  Jewish  Prayer-Book  (Singer,  p.  308  fol.).  There  is 
reason  to  believe,  however,  that  it  is  falling  into  abeyance 
in  the  Jewish  community.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
in  the  Middle  Ages  the  redemption  of  the  first-bom 
meant  far  more  than  it  does  now.  After  the  rite  of 
initiation  "  they  put  the  child  on  cushions  and  a  Bible 
on  its  head,  and  the  elders  of  the  community,  or  the 
principal  of  the  college,  imparted  their  blessings  to  it." 
These  devoted  their  lives  to  sacred  study  [Torah  and 
Talmud)  "  and  formed  the  chief  contingent  of  the 
Yeshiboth  (Talmudical  Colleges)."^ 

In  the  case  of  girls,  the  ceremony  of  name-giving 
takes  place  in  the  Synagogue  on  the  first  Sabbath  after 
birth,  when  the  father  is  called  up  to  the  reading  of  the 
Law  (a  mark  of  special  distinction)  .^  In  many  places,  how- 
ever, it  is  deferred  to  a  Sabbath  when  the  mother  can  be 
present  for  the  first  time  after  the  child's  birth.  After  the 
ceremony  the  friends,  as  usual,  assemble  at  the  parents' 
house  for  congratulation  and  hospitality.     This  particular 

1  Schechter,  op.  cit.  ibid.  »  See,  further,  Chap,  xxi,  §  ii. 

*  See  this  explained  in  Chap  xviii,  §  z. 


EDUCATION    OF   CHILDREN  271 

ceremony  is  noteworthy  as  "  being  the  only  attention  the 
female  child  receives  from  the  S>Tiagogue."  After  the  father 
was  called  up  to  the  reading  of  the  Law  followed  the 
formula  beginning  :  "  May  He  who  blessed  our  father 
Abraham,  may  He  also  bless,"  etc.  Then  followed  the 
announcement  of  the  child's  name.  The  prayer  is 
printed  in  Singer,  p.  132. 

III.     Education  of  Children. 
This  has  always  been  regarded  by  the  Jews  as  a  matter 
of  the  supremest  importance.     "  And  to  be  sure,"   as 
Prof.  Schechter  remarks,  "  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  to 
bring  up  a  priest."     All  kinds  of  anecdotes  are  told  in 
Rabbinic  literature  of  infant  prodigies  in  learning.     Thus 
it  is  recorded  that  "  a  famous  Kabbalist,  Nahum,  at  the 
age  of  three  gave  a  lecture  on  the  Decalogue  that  lasted 
for  three  days."     But  happily  such  precocity  was  not 
encouraged.     One  charming  story  of  a  somewhat  different 
kind  is  told,  which  is  worth  repeating.     We  are  indebted 
for  it  to  Prof.  Schechter.    R.  Joshua  ben  Hananiah  once 
made  a  journey  to  Rome.     Here  he  was  told  that  amongst 
the  captives  from  Jerusalem  there  was  a  child  with  bright 
eyes,  its  hair  in  ringlets,  and  its  features  strikingly  beauti- 
ful.    The  Rabbi  made  up  his  mind  to  redeem  the  boy. 
He  went  to  the  prison,  and  addressed  the  child  with  a 
verse  from  Isaiah  :  "  Whol  gave  Jacob  for  a  spoil  and 
Israel  to  the  robbers  ?  "     On  this  the  child  answered  by 
continuing  the   second  half  of  the  same  verse  :   "  Did 
not  the  Lord,  He  against  whom  we  have  sinned  ?     For 
they  would  not  walk  in  his  ways,   neither  were  they 
obedient  unto  his  law"  (Isa.  432*).     The  Rabbi  was  so 
delighted  with  this  answer  that  he  said  :     "  I  am  sure 
he  will  grow  up  to  be  a  teacher  in  Israel.     I  take  an  oath 
to    redeem   him,    cost   what    it    may."     The   child   was 
afterwards  known  as  R.  Ishmael  ben  Elisha. 

The  history  of  the  Jewish  system  of  education  is  a 
long  and  fascinating  one,  and  can  only  be  touched  upon 


272    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

in  the  briefest  possible  manner  here.  But  it  is  impossible 
properly  to  understand  the  Jewish  character  without 
reahzing  what  an  immense  part  education  has  played 
in  developing  and  maintaining  Judaism  at  various 
periods    of    its    remarkable    history. 

The  Jewish  race  may  weU  be  proud  of  its  educational 
achievements.  To  it  belongs  the  distinction  of  having 
produced  the  oldest  hand-book  of  psedagogic  principles 
in  the  world — the  Book  of  Proverbs.  The  discipline 
of  the  intellect  has  become  part  of  its  religion.  The 
Synagogue  was,  and  to  some  extent  still  is,  especially 
in  Poland,  the  centre  of  the  community's  intellectual 
as  well  as  religious  hfe.  This  fact  so  much  struck 
Christian  observers  in  the  Middle  Ages,  that  we  find  the 
Synagogue  consistently  described  in  mediaeval  documents 
as  schola  or  school,  a  term  which  has  survived  in  the 
German  term  for  the  Synagogue,  shool. 

The  Synagogue  appears  to  have  possessed  this  character 
as  far  back  as  New  Testament  times.  For  though  suchjterms 
as  "schoolmaster"  (Rom.  2^®  ff.)  and  "teacher  of  infants" 
occur  in  the  New  Testament,  and  thus  prove  that  the 
school,  as  an  institution,  was  well  known,  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  word  "  school  "  itself  only  occurs  there  once, 
and  then  not  of  a  Jewish  school,  but  of  the  lecture-room 
of  a  Greek  rhetorician  at  Ephesus  (Acts  19^).  The 
probable  explanation  is  that  the  school,  in  both  its 
elementary  and  higher  forms,  was  so  intimately  associated 
with  the  Synagogue,  that,  in  ordinary  speech,  the  two  were 
not  separated.  The  term  Synagogue  included  its  school. 
The  close  association  of  learning  and  religion  in  Judaism 
strikes  one  at  every  turn.  On  looking  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Jewish  Prayer-Book  passages  will  be  found  from 
the  Mishnah  and  Baraithas  containing  specimens  of  the 
subtle  dialectic  in  which  the  Jewish  mind  revels.  Now 
these  passages  at  first  sight  seem  to  serve  no  religious 
purpose  whatever.  In  fact,  to  non- Jewish  e3'es  they 
appear    to    be    positively    unedifying.     Their    presence 


JEWISH    LEARNING  273 

in  the  Liturgy  at  all  can  only  be  explained  when  we 
remember  the  point  of  view  from  which  the  typical  Jew 
regards  such  subjects.  To  the  Jew,  Jewish  learning  is 
part  of  the  Jewish  rehgion.  As  a  consequence,  a  certain 
amount  of  sacred  learning  is  a  necessary  part  of  every 
true  Jew's  equipment.  The  good  results  that  have  flowed 
from  this  attitude  of  mind  are  that  the  intellectual  level 
of  the  whole  race  has  been  raised.  In  certain  places, 
for  certain  periods  of  their  history,  the  Jewish  people 
may,  with  very  little  exaggeration,  be  said  to  have 
produced  a  nation  of  scholars.  This  is,  to-day,  largely 
true  of  Poland,  which  is  still  the  centre  of  Jewish  intel- 
lectual energy.  But  even  in  countries  Hke  our  own, 
where  Jewish  life  is  lived  on  a  necessarily  much  smaller 
scale,  and  with  far  less  intensity,  and  where  devotion  to 
Jewish  studies,  as  such,  is  checked  and  reduced  by  the 
multifarious  foreign  influences  of  a  seductive  non- Jewish 
environment,  the  effect  of  the  intellectual  discipline  of 
the  past  on  the  race  is  apparent  enough.  The  keen  wits 
and  sharp  intelligence  of  the  least  educated  of  Jewish 
children  are  notorious.  Learning  and  the  learned  class 
are  honoured  in  the  Jewish  community  in  a  way  that  it 
would  be  hard  to  parallel  in  the  case  of  any  other  body 
of  people,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Scotch. 
The  intellectual  element  in  Jewish  rehgion  is  thus  very 
pronounced,  and  this  is  a  matter  which  ought  to  be 
fully  understood  by  those  who  wish  to  commend 
Christianity  to  the  Jewish  people. 

Herein  Judaism  reveals  both  its  strength  and  its 
weakness.  Its  strength — for  it  is  undoubtedly  the  love 
of  sacred  study,  instilled  in  School  and  Synagogue,  that 
has  saved  the  Jewish  race  from  extinction  ;  and  its 
weakness — because  it  is  possible  to  give  an  exaggerated 
place,  in  rehgious  matters,  to  the  intellect  ;  and  this  is  a 
danger  from  which  Judaism  has  by  no  means  always 
escaped.  Judaism  has  very  little  sympathy  to  offer 
to  the  unlearned,  the  ignorant,  the  weak,  the  fallen, 
19— (J417) 


274    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  sinner.  "  This  people  that  knoweth  not  the  Law- 
is  accursed."  It  is  in  this  respect  that  Christianity  might 
do  so  much  for  Jewish  rehgion,  by  infusing  into  it  its 
own  spirit  and  transforming  it.  It  may,  perhaps,  be 
added  that  it  is  equally  possible,  unduly  to  depreciate 
the  place  of  the  intellect  in  matters  religious,  and  that 
Judaism  has  something  to  teach  us  all  in  this  respect. 

The  importance  of  the  early  training  of  children  is  a 
constant  theme  of  discussion  in  Jewish  literature.  The 
dominant  place  of  a  definitely  religious  training  is  insisted 
upon  throughout.  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  even  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it  "  (Prov.  22^),  is  re-echoed,  in  more  prosaic 
language,  in  the  Talmud  :  "  If  we  do  not  keep  our 
children  to  religion  when  they  are  young,  we  shall 
certainly  not  be  able  to  do  so  in  later  years."  And  the 
Jewish  teachers  were  the  first  to  perceive  that  the  means 
by  which  this  could  be  accomphshed  was  by  a  system  of 
definite  religious  instruction  in  the  elementary  schools. 

There  is  a  famous  Talmudical  passage  which  is  usually 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  treatise  known  as  "  The  Ethics 
(or  Sayings)  of  the  Fathers  "  {Pirke  A  both),  which  might  be 
entitled  "The  Ages  of  Man,"  or,  at  any  rate,  of  the  Jewish 
man.  It  runs  as  follows :  "  At  five  years  old,  Scripture ;  at 
ten,  Mishnah ;  at  thirteen,  the  Commandments ;  at  fifteen, 
Talmud;  at  eighteen,  the  Bridal  (marriage),  etc."  Such 
is  the  programme  of  Jewish  education  according  to  the 
Mishnah,  but  it  is  of  necessity  largely  modified  in  practice. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  rehgious  training  of  the  child 
began  as  soon  as  it  could  speak  ;  and  this  is  still  the  rule. 
Professor  Schechter  quotes  a  passage  from  one  of  the 
later  Midrashini,  which  states  the  Talmudic  rule  well. 
Referring  to  a  passage  in  Lev.  192324^  where  it  is  for- 
bidden to  eat  the  fniits  of  a  tree  in  the  first  three  years, 
the  Midrash  goes  on  to  say  :  "  And  this  is  also  the  case 
with  the  Jewish  child.  In  the  first  three  years  the  child 
is  unable  to  speak,  and  therefore  is  exempted  from  every 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    OF   THE   YOUNG     275 

religious  duty  ;  but  in  the  fourth  year  all  its  fruits  shall 
be  holy  to  praise  the  Lord,  and  the  father  is  obliged  to 
initiate  the  child  in  religious  works."  This  latter  duty  is 
performed  by  the  father,  who  teaches  the  child  to  repeat 
short  verses  of  Scripture,  such  as  the  first  verse  of  the 
"  Shema'  "  ;  "  Hear,  O  Israel ;  the  Lord  our  God  is 
One  "  (Deut.  6*)  ;  or  "  Moses  commanded  us  a  Torah,  the 
inheritance  of  the  congregation  of  Jacob  "  (Deut.  33  *)  ; 
as  well  as  short  prayers  in  Hebrew,  In  an  interesting 
little  book  published  a  few  years  ago  by  Dr.  Gaster, 
the  head  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jewish  com- 
munity in  England,  which  is  designed  to  introduce 
the  sacred  tongue  to  young  children,  and  which  he  calls 
(after  his  own  little  boy,  who  first  used  it,)  "  Vivian's 
Hebrew  Reader,"  ^  there  is,  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  a 
small  collection  of  such  prayers  and  blessings  as  a  young 
child  would  begin  to  learn  on  entering  its  fourth  year. 
They  include  prayers  for  morning  and  evening,  the  Ten 
Commandments,  grace  after  meals,  and  various  short 
blessings,  the  whole  occupying  in  the  Hebrew  text  about 
six  and  a  half  printed  pages.  There  is  also  an  English 
translation.  Of  course,  so  young  a  child  would  take 
some  time  to  master  all  this,  but  it  enables  one  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  kind  of  instruction  well-taught  Jewish 
children  receive.  In  his  fourth  year,  too,  a  boy  used  to 
begin  to  accompany  his  parents  to  Synagogue,  carrying 
their  prayer-books. 

Though  the  Law  is  not  binding  upon  children,  in  the 
strict  sense,  it  yet  has  been  usual  to  accustom  them  to  its 
requirements  from  an  early  age  (at  any  rate,  in  strict 
Jewish  families).  Thus,  the  Mishnah  directs  the  elders 
to  enjoin  upon  children  Sabbath  observance  {Shabhath 
XV,  6),  and  the  instinctive  feeling  so  engendered  is 
obviously  present  in  Jewish  children  to-day.  One  or 
two  years  before  the  legal  age,  fasting,  preliminary  to 

*    VtT/t'an's  Hebrew  Reader  is  published  by  Greenberg  &  Co. 


276    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  requirements  of  the  Day  of  Atonement,  was  to  be 
begun  {Yoma  viii.  4).  Children  are  also  bound  to  the 
grace  at  table.  Two  great  occasions  in  the  Jewish  year 
afford  special  opportunities  for  inculcating  these  precepts 
upon  children — viz.,  on  Simchath  Tor  ah  (the  "  Rejoicing 
of  the  Law,"  a  very  joyous  festival),  and  Seder-evemng 
(Passover).  In  the  earliest  period,  when  the  Temple 
was  standing,  boys  were  required  to  be  present,  at  the 
tenderest  age,  at  the  chief  festivals  in  tlie  Great  Sanctuary 
{Chagigah  i,  i).'  It  may,  perhaps,  be  inferred  from 
Luke  2*2  that  those  who  dwelt  at  a  distance  from 
Jerusalem  would  not  take  part  in  the  pilgrimages  till 
their  twelfth  year. 

The  next  great  moment  in  the  boy's  history  is  when  he 
enters  school  for  the  first  time  (from  the  fifth  to  the 
seventh  year).  This  was  formerly  the  occasion  of  much 
ceremony,  which  is  worth  describing,  though  it  has  long 
been  abolished.  "  This  day,"  we  are  told,  "  was  celebrated 
by  the  Jews,  especially  in  the  Middle  Ages,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  justify  the  high  esteem  in  which  they  held  the  school. 
The  school  was  looked  upon  as  a  second  Mount  Sinai, 
and  the  day  on  which  the  child  entered  it  as  the  Feast 
of  Revelation.  Many  different  customs  were  connected 
with  the  day.  According  to  one,  it  was  fixed  for  the 
Feast  of  Weeks.  Early  in  the  morning,  while  it  was 
still  dark,  the  child  was  washed  and  dressed  carefully. 
In  some  places  they  dressed  it  in  a  '  gown  with  fringes.' 
As  soon  as  day  dawned  the  boy  was  taken  to  the  Synagogue, 
either  by  the  father  or  by  some  worthy  member  of  the 
community.  Arrived  at  their  destination,  the  boy  was 
put  on  the  Almemar,  or  reading-dais,  before  the  scroll 
of  the  Law,  from  which  the  narrative  of  the  Revelation 
(Ex.  2o2"26)  ^as  j-ga.d  as  the  portion  of  the  day.  From 
the  Synagogue  the  boy  was  taken  to  the  house  of  the 

'  In  the  Sabbatical  year  they  were  brought  to  the  Temple  to 
be  present  at  the  reading  of  Deuteronomy  by  the  King. 


THE   "CHEDER"  277 

teacher,  who  took  him  into  his  arms.  Thereupon  a  slate 
was  brought,  containing  the  alphabet  in  various  com- 
binations, the  verse  "  Moses  has  commanded,"  etc. 
(Deut.  33  *),  the  first  verse  of  the  Book  of  Leviticus 
and  the  words  '  The  Tor  ah  will  be  my  calling.'  The 
teacher  then  read  the  names  of  the  letters,  which  the 
boy  then  repeated.  After  the  reading  the  slate  was 
besmeared  with  honey,  which  the  boy  licked  off.  This 
was  done  in  allusjon  to  Ezek.  3^,  where  it  is  said,  '  And 
it  (the  roll)  was  in  my  mouth  as  honey  for  sweetness.' 
The  boy  was  also  made  to  eat  a  sweet  cake,  on  which 
were  written  passages  from  the  Bible  relating  to  the 
importance  of  the  study  of  the  Tor  ah.  The  ceremony 
was  concluded  by  invoking  the  names  of  certain 
Angels,  asking  them  to  open  the  heart  of  the  boy,  and 
to  strengthen  his  memory."  ^ 

IV.    The    "  Cheder  "   and    Religious    Instruction. 

The  modern  representative  of  the  mediaeval  Jewish 
school  is  the  Cheder,  numbers  of  which  exist  in  the  East 
End  of  London.  On  this  subject  a  sharp  conflict  has  more 
than  once  within  recent  years  arisen  between  the  foreign- 
speaking  Jews  of  East  London  and  the  Anglicized  Jews 
of  the  West.  Cheder,  it  may  be  explained,  is  a  Hebrew 
word  meaning  "room,"  and  the  designation  is  strictly 
accurate  in  a  great  number  of  cases.  The  Cheder  is 
the  Hebrew  school  par  excellence.  It  is  attended  by 
the  children  of  foreign-speaking  Jews  who  are  anxious 
that  their  sons  should  have  an  adequate  training  in 
Hebrew.  The  boy  attends  from  the  age  of  six,  or  even 
earlier,  and,  as  a  rule,  leaves  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
when  he  attains  his  religious  majority  according  to 
Rabbinic  Law.  The  curriculum  includes  the  reading  of 
Hebrew,  translation  of  the  Pentateuch  from  Hebrew,  and 


Schechter's  Studies,  loc  cit. 


278    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

of  easy  passages  from  the  commentary  of  Rashi  (1040- 
1105).  He  is  also  made  familiar  with  the  Jewish  Prayer- 
Book,  although,  unhappily,  this  sometimes  does  not 
amount  to  more  than  a  parrot-hke  repetition  of  formulas 
which  are  not  understood.  "  In  some  of  the  better 
Chedarim  Hebrew  grammar  is  taught,  and  the  more 
advanced  pupils  study  the  elements  of  ritual  law."  ^ 
Moral  instruction  is  also  not  neglected,  but  is  sometimes 
ineffective,  owing  to  the  laxity  prevalent  in  the  child's 
home.  In  this  matter,  home  influence,  as  always,  is  the 
decisive  factor.  Undoubtedly,  more  Hebrew  is  learnt 
in  the  Chedarim  than  in  the  Jewish  voluntary  schools, 
or  in  the  religious  classes  attached  to  those  Public 
Elementary  Schools  where  Jewish  children  attend  in  any 
numbers.  A  shilling  a  week  for  each  boy  is  often  paid 
by  poor  parents  to  the  "  melammid,"  or  teacher,  of  the 
Cheder. 

It  should  be  added  that  the  Cheder  is  a  supplementary 
institution  to  the  ordinary  schools.  For  instance,  a 
large  number  of  the  scholars  of  the  Jewish  Free  School 
attend  Cheder  as  well.  The  hours  of  attendance  dit  Cheder 
vary,  but  generally  pupils  come  for  about  half  an  hour 
before  morning  school  to  say  their  prayers,  again  for  a 
few  minutes  at  dinner-time  to  say  the  short  afternoon 
service  or  a  psalm  or  two,  and  again  in  the  evening  for 
two  or  three  hours.  Usually  Saturday  is  a  free-day  ; 
but  two  hours  are  given  on  Sunday. 

The  objections  raised  against  this  institution  by  some  of 
the  Enghsh  Jews  may  be  summarized  under  three  heads  : 
(i)  that  Yiddish  is  used  as  the  medium  of  instruction  ; 
(2)  that  the  rooms  used  are  insanitary  ;  and,  (3),  that  the 
hours  are  too  long.  On  the  whole,  the  case  against  the 
Chedarim  seems  to  break  down.  Yiddish,  under  present 
conditions,  is  a  necessity.  Moreover,  English  influences 
fully  assert  themselves  both  in  the  ordinary  schools  and 

1  H.  S.  Lewis,  in  lite  Jew  in  London. 


ADVANTAGES   OF   "CHEDARIM"  279 

in  the  whole  environment  of  Jewish  children  living  in 
England.  Further,  Mr.  H.  S.  Lewis,  in  his  interesting 
discussion  of  the  whole  question  in  the  volume,  "  The 
Jew  in  London,"  has  shown  that  the  charge  of  insanitary 
conditions  is  largely  exaggerated.  It  only  apphes  to  a 
few  of  the  smaller  Chedarim  set  up  by  newly  arrived 
immigrants  who  are  too  poor  to  furnish  the  room  properly. 
The  larger  Chedarim  are  usually  fitted  up  like  an  ordinary 
schoolroom.  Lastly,  the  hours  of  attendance  have  been 
grossly  exaggerated.  No  doubt  considerable  improvement 
will  be  effected  by  the  gradual  displacement  of  Yiddish. 
When  English  is  the  medium  of  teaching,  it  may  be  hoped 
that  the  teaching  of  Hebrew  will  be  more  intelligent  than 
is  often  the  case  at  present.  In  time,  too,  a  higher 
standard  of  competence  will  be  demanded  from  the 
teachers.  Even  under  existing  conditions  Hebrew  is 
not  at  all  badly  taught,  and  it  is  astonishing  to  see  with 
what  fluency  the  average  Jewish  boy  can  read  the  sacred 
tongue.  The  strong  point  of  the  Cheder  is  the  opportuni- 
ties it  affords  for  individual  attention  to  the  needs  of 
the  scholars.  Altogether  it  seems  to  have  in  itself  the 
making  of  an  admirable  and  efficient  institution,  which 
may  largely  help  to  keep  alive  some  of  the  best  and  most 
characteristic  features  in  Jewish  hfe  and  religion.  Another 
institution,  of  a  somewhat  similar  kind,  is  that  of  the 
Talmud  Tor  ah  (an  expression  meaning  "  Study  of  the 
Law  ").  Its  object  is  to  teach  Hebrew  and  Religion. 
It  is  maintained  partly  by  pupils'  fees,  partly  by 
subscriptions,  and  is  managed  by  a  committee  of  sub- 
scribers. The  two  principal  East  End  institutions  of  the 
kind,  situated  in  Whitechapel,  are  thus  described  by 
Mr.  Lewis,  writing  in  1900  : — 

"  At  the  larger  of  the  two  .  .  .  there  are  about  i,ooo 
pupils,  and  instruction  is  given  through  the  medium  of 
Yiddish.  The  other  has  over  600  pupils,  and  instruction 
is  given  in  Enghsh.  Both  institutions  are  quite  full,  and 
children  have  to  be  refused  admission  for  want  of  room 


280    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  fees  paid  vary  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
parents,  but  average  about  twopence  per  child.  The 
children  attend  for  about  two  hours  each  evening.  Classes 
at  the  Talmud  Torah  are  much  larger  than  at  a 
Cheder.  A  single  master  has  often  to  teach  forty  pupils, 
and,  of  course,  cannot  give  much  individual  attention. 
The  teaching  given,  however,  is  very  efficient,  and  has 
met  with  the  approval  of  many  educational  experts." 
Talnrnd  Torah  classes,  however,  are  not  confined 
to  the  East  End.  In  varying  degrees  of  activity  and 
efficiency  they  are  to  be  found,  as  a  rule,  wherever  a 
Jewish  community  exists. 

V.     Hebrew  and  Yiddish. 

From  this  review  of  specifically  Jewish  educational 
institutions  it  will  be  apparent  that  Hebrew  is  by  no 
means  such  a  dead  letter  in  Jewish  circles  as  is  sometimes 
assumed.  The  disappearance  of  Hebrew  from  the 
curriculum  of  popular  Jewish  instruction  would,  we 
venture  to  think,  be  a  deplorable  catastrophe.  It 
would  involve  a  wrench  with  the  past  which  would 
permanently  damage  the  Jewish  character.  The  sacred 
tongue  in  which  Jews  all  the  world  over  read  their 
Scriptures  and  chant  their  liturgies — which,  too,  enshrines 
such  a  wonderful  literature  besides — is  the  one  unifying 
element  that  links  together  the  scattered  colonies  of  the 
Jewish  Dispersion  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 

No  !  If  any  change  be  made,  let  it  rather  be  in  the 
direction  of  enlarging  and  deepening  the  knowledge  of  the 
tongue  in  which  the  Prophets  wrote  and  the  Psalmists 
sang,  and  whose  hterature  is  the  glory  of  the  Jewish  race. 
In  this  connexion  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  strenuous 
and  successful  efforts  are  being  made  by  the  heads  of  the 
Central  Jewish  Library  in  Jerusalem  to  revive  Hebrew 
as  a  spoken  language.  These  efforts  are  being  seconded 
by  the  Chovevi  Zion  Societies.^     The  disappearance  of 

1  Chovevi  Zion  =  Lovers  of  Zion. 


"  BAR-MITZVAH  "  281 

Yiddish  in  favour  of  the  vernacular  of  the  country  would 
be  another  matter.  From  all  points  of  view  it  is  eminently 
desirable.  Yiddish  is  a  mere  jargon,  made  up  mostly  of 
debased  German,  and  dignified  (or  made  ridiculous)  by 
being  written  in  Hebrew  characters.  It  is  the  legacy  of 
an  unhappy  period  of  isolation  and  degradation  in  Jewish 
history,  which  does  not  deserve  to  be  thus  perpetuated. 


VI.     "  Bar-mitzvah." 

The  term  means  "  Son  of  the  Commandment,"  or 
Covenant,  and  is  applied  to  a  boy  when  he  reaches  the 
age  of  thirteen.  Attainment  of  this  age  constitutes  his 
religious  majority,  and  he  is  henceforth  bound  by  the 
whole  Law  and  responsible  for  his  deeds.  On  the  Sabbath 
following  his  thirteenth  birthday  the  boy  is  called  up  in 
the  Synagogue  to  the  Law,  and  he  actually  reads  (or 
rather  chants)  the  whole  of  the  Sidra  (i.e.,  lesson  appointed), 
or  else  a  portion  of  it,  together  with  the  blessings  (or 
prayer  formulas)  that  precede  and  follow. 

To  be  called  up  to  the  Law  in  Synagogue  is  a  mark  of 
special  distinction  and  honour,  and  is  done  for  special 
reasons  on  special  occasions.  But  it  is  quite  an  excep- 
tional thing  for  the  person  so  called  up  actually  to  chant 
the  lesson,  or  a  section  of  it.  This  is  a  matter  of  con- 
siderable difficulty,  and  requires  special  training,  as  the 
scrolls  of  the  Law  used  in  Synagogue  are  without  vowel 
points  and  accents.  The  ordinary  person  is  quite  unequal 
to  the  task.  Consequently,  when  a  man  is  called  up,  he 
confines  himself  to  saying  the  benedictions  that  precede 
and  follow  the  section  of  the  lesson  wliich  is  allotted  to 
him  ;  the  actual  chanting  is  done  by  the  professional 
reader  (Chazzan). 

Therefore,  the  preparation  of  the  boy  for  the  Bar- 
mitzvah  ceremony  is  somewhat  elaborate.  He  has  to  be 
specially  trained  to  chant  (as  a  rule  the  whole  of)  the 
lesson  from  the  Law,  as  well  as  the  prophetic  lesson,  so 
that  he  can  read  both  as  correctly  as  the  regular  reader. 


282    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Sometimes,  it  is  to  be  feared,  the  boy  learns  to  chant  the 
lessons  without  understanding  them.  The  occasion  is 
made  one  of  great  family  rejoicing.  The  father  of  the 
Bar-mitzvah  acts  for  the  nonce  as  Segan,  a  kind  of 
Synagogue  warden,  whose  privilege  it  is  to  allot  various 
small  but  much  coveted  duties  to  various  members  of  the 
congregation  in  the  Synagogue-service.  The  ceremony 
is,  of  course,  followed  by  a  family  festival.  Readers 
of  Mr.  Zangwill's  books  will  remember  his  description 
of  such  occasions.  The  fixing  of  the  age  at  thirteen  in 
the  case  of  a  boy  was  determined  according  to  the  age  at 
which  manhood  is  reached  in  Eastern  countries,  where, 
as  is  well  known,  maturity  is  attained  much  earlier  than 
in  the  colder  countries  of  the  North.  Prof.  Schechter, 
however,  is  of  opinion  that  the  fixing  of  the  age  at  thirteen 
for  the  attainment  of  the  majority  (it  was  formerly  the 
age  of  legal  as  well  as  religious  majority)  is  due  to  the 
influence  of  Roman  civil  law.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is 
practically  certain  that  the  ceremony  of  Bar-mitzvah  was 
suggested  by  the  Christian  rite  of  Confirmation. 

Some  Jewish  (Reform)  congregations  are  quite  frank 
in  the  matter,  having  adopted  the  name  "  confirmation" 
itself.  At  any  rate,  we  are  told  that  "  it  has  become 
customary  in  some  Synagogues  to  confirm  Jewish  girls 
who  have  gone  through  a  training  in  the  principles  of 
Jewish  religion."  Girls,  according  to  Jewish  law,  attain 
their  religious  majority  one  year  earlier  than  boys. 

VIII.  Higher  Instruction. 
The  centre  of  higher  instruction  in  Jewish  I,aw, 
Ritual  and  Religion,  is  the  Beth  Ha-Midrdsh(\.e.,  "  House 
of  Study  ").  Here  it  is  that  the  Talmud  and  higher 
branches  of  Jewish  literature  are  taught  and  studied. 
This  institution  flourishes  particularly  in  Russia  at  the 
present  time.  There  it  is  attended  by  all  Jewish  youths 
between  nine  and  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  constitutes 
their  main  education.      The  study  of  Talmudic  dialectic. 


STUDY   OF  THE   "TALMUD'  283 

which  is  an  amazing  system  of  subtle  and  comphcated 
distinctions,  produces  an  extraordinary  intellectual  acute- 
ness,  as  those  who  have  ever  attempted  to  reason  with  a 
Talmudist  can  testify.  The  London  Beth- Hamniidr ash 
has  its  library  and  offices  in  St.  James's  Place,  Aldgate 
(close  to  the  Great  Synagogue) .  Classes  are  held  in  both 
German  and  English  for  the  study  of  the  Talmud,  Bible 
with  Commentaries  and  other  branches  of  Jewish  hterature. 
There  is  also  the  Jews'  College  for  the  training  of 
candidates  for  the  Jewish  Ministry,  as  well  as  various 
learned  societies,  which  are  enumerated  in  the  Jewish 
Year  Books. 


CHAPTER    XV. 
The  Education  and  Life  of  the  Jew  (concluded). 

Marriage    and    Divorce — The    Religious'  Position     of    Women — The 
Home — Death  and  Mourning. 

I.     Marriage  and  Divorce. 

The  next  step  in  "  the  ages  of  the  Jewish  man  "  brings 
us  to  the  eighteenth  year  of  age  and  marriage.  Here, 
again,  the  hmit  is  rather  low  for  northern  chmes.  Other 
quahfications  have  to  be  considered,  too,  besides  age. 
The  great  mediaeval  Rabbi,  Moses  ben  Maimon  (usually 
styled  Maimonides),  says,  "  Man  should  first  secure  a 
living,  then  prepare  a  residence,  and  after  that  seek  a  wife. 
But  fools  act  otherwise  ;  they  marry  first,  then  look  out 
for  a  house,  and  at  last  think  of  the  means  of  obtaining  a 
livelihood  "  (cf.  Deut.  20^-'  ;    2830).i 

In  the  time  of  the  Mishnah  it  was  customary  for  the 
husband  to  execute  a  deed  (called  Kethiihah  or  written 
agreement),  which  had  to  be  signed  by  two  witnesses.  In 
this  marriage  contract,  which  still  constitutes  one  of  the 
essential  parts  of  a  Jewish  wedding,  and  is  read  out  at  the 
synagogue  ceremony,  the  bridegroom  promises  to  honour 
and  support  his  wife,  and  to  present  her  with  a  certain  sum, 
as  settlement,  of  not  less  than  200  zuzini  (100  in  the  case 
of  a  widow),  besides  the  bride's  dowry. ^  This  sum  is 
to  be  paid  in  the  case  of  the  husband's  death,  or  in  the 
case  of  a  divorce,  which  it  thus  serves  to  check. 

The  actual  marriage  ceremony  was  formerly  preceded 
by  the  betrothal  (called  Kiddushin,  Ht.  "  Sanctifications  "). 
The  two  were  quite  distinct  ceremonies.      The  betrothal 

*  Mishneh-Torah,  Hil-Deoth  v,  11  (cited  by  Friedlander,  Jew. 
Rel.'^  p.  483). 

*  Zuz  is  a  Talmudic  coin  =  gid.     Cf.  p.  249  note. 

284 


MARRIAGE  285 

consisted  of  a  solemn  promise  on  the  part  of  the  future 
husband  to  take  the  betrothed,  after  a  certain  time,  to  his 
house  as  his  wife  ;  and  the  betrothed,  on  her  part,  under- 
took to  consider  herself  as  his  wife,  and  to  prepare  for 
the  marriage.  This  usually  took  place  twelve  months 
after  the  formal  betrothal.  At  present,  as  in  our  own 
marriage  service,  the  two  have  been  united  into  one.  A 
glance  at  the  Marriage  Service  in  Singer's  Prayer-Book 
(p.  238  f.),  will  show  that  it  is  divided  into  two  parts 
by  the  reading  of  the  Kethuhah.  The  former  of  these 
represents  the  old  betrothal  service.  The  modern  engage- 
ment, of  course,  is  a  different  matter,  corresponding  to  the 
agreement  prehminary  to  the  betrothal  of  former  times. 
The  actual  betrothal  is  made  in  the  following  words  by  the 
bridegroom  :  "  Behold,  thou  art  consecrated  (i.e., 
betrothed)  to  me  by  this  ring,  according  to  the  Law  of 
Moses  and  of  Israel."  While  saying  this  he  places  a  gold 
ring  (an  innovation  in  the  Jewish  ceremony)  ^  on  the 
second  finger  of  the  bride's  right  hand. 

If  the  reader  will  look  at  the  Prayer-Book  he  will 
notice  that  this  formula  is  preceded  by  a  blessing  over 
wine  :  "  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the 
universe,  Who  Greatest  the  fruit  of  the  vine."  This  is 
read  by  the  officiating  minister  while  holding  a  cup  of 
wine  in  his  hand,  and  is  followed  immediately  by  the 
Birkath  Erusin,  i.e.,  the  "  Blessing  of  Betrothal,"  in 
which  God  is  praised  for  the  institution  of  marriage  : 
"  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord,  Who  sanctifiest  Thy  people 
Israel  by  the  rite  of  the  canopy  and  the  sacred  covenant 
of  wedlock." 

It  ought  to  be  stated  that  the  bride  and  bridegroom 
taste  of  the  wine  above  mentioned.  The  mention  of  the 
canopy — or  Chuppdh,  to  give  it  its  Hebrew  name — refers 


1  Cf.  Abrahams  Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  183  ;  and 
for  the  whole  subject  of  wedding  customs,  chapters  ix  and  x  of 
the  same  volume. 


286    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  a  picturesque  element  that  characterizes  all  Jewish 
weddings.^  The  Chuppah  is  a  canopy  under  which 
the  marriage  ceremony  is  performed.  Its  top  is  often 
composed  of  the  curtain  of  the  Ark  of  the  Law,  and  this 
is  supported  by  four  posts,  erected  in  the  middle  of  the 
synagogue.  Under  it  bride  and  bridegroom  are  led  by 
their  friends.  In  some  countries  a  Talltth  is  merely  held 
over  the  heads  of  the  contracting  parties.  It  is  now  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  future  home  of  the  newly  married. 
The  reader  will  notice  that  the  future  home  is,  according 
to  this  symbolism,  roofed  with  sanctity. 

After  the  solemn  formula  of  betrothal,  mentioned  above, 
follows  the  reading  of  the  Kethubdh  or  marriage-settle- 
ment. This  is  read  in  either  Aramaic  or  English.  The 
Aramaic  form  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and,  no  doubt,  goes 
back  for  its  origin  to  Palestine,  when  the  Jews  living  there 
spoke  Aramaic.  Then  follow  the  seven  blessings, ^ 
the  whole  ceremony  being  concluded  by  the  breaking 
of  the  wine-glass  by  the  bridegroom.  Formerly  it  was 
customary  to  use  for  this  purpose  a  glass  in  which  the 
Kiddush  had  been  made,  and  it  used  to  be  thrown  against 
the  north  wall  of  the  synagogue  ;  but  at  the  present  time 
an  ordinary  wine-glass  is  used,  which  is  simply  broken 
beneath  his  foot  by  the  bridegroom.  It  is  also  customary 
for  the  bridegroom,  his  father,  and  the  bride's  father,  to 
be  called  up  to  the  Law  on  the  Sabbath  preceding  the 
ceremony.  The  banquet  is  graced  by  the  usual  wedding 
speeches.  It  was  considered  a  special  merit  to  speak  on 
such  an  occasion.  The  bridegroom  used  to  give  a  dis- 
course on  some  Talmudical  theme,  if  he  was  able  to  do  so. 


1  At  the  ceremony  a  minyan  or  quorum  (i.e.,  ten  adult  males) 
must  be  present. 

*  The  first  of  these  (over  wine)  is  followed  by  a  glass  of  wine 
being  handed  to  bride  and  bridegroom  again.  At  the  conclusion 
another  (empty)  glass  is  laid  on  the  floor  and  stamped  upon  by 
the  bridegroom.  When  he  breaks  it  all  present  cry  Maz^aal  toh 
("Good  luck").     See  further,  Chap,  xxi,  §  ix. 


BRIDE   AND    BRIDEGROOM  287 

In  Biblical  and  Talmiidic  times  the  feasting  lasted  seven 
days. 

The  undercurrent  of  solemnity,  however,  which  has 
found  manifold  expression  in  Jewish  marriage  customs 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  To  this  day  the  strict  Jew 
ought,  according  to  Dr.  Friedlander,  to  keep  the  wedding- 
day  "  as  a  day  of  earnest  reflection,  of  prayer  and  fasting, 
till  after  the  ceremony,  when  the  fast  is  broken  and  the 
rejoicing  begins."  This  as  a  preparation  for  the  new  life 
on  which  bride  and  bridegroom  are  entering.  Once  it  was 
even  customary  to  strew  ashes  over  the  heads  of  the  bridal 
pair  during  the  wedding  ceremony.  "  In  Germany  the 
bridegroom  wore  a  cowl — a  typical  mourning  garb," 
and  "  the  bride  wore  over  her  more  festive  attire  a  white 
.  .  .  shroud."  ^ 

This  feature  suggests  a  possible  explanation  of  the 
mysterious  glass-breaking  to  which  allusion  has  already 
been  made,  and  which  has  become  the  most  striking  feature 
associated  mth  the  ceremony.  It  will  have  been  noticed 
that  the  glass-breaking  comes  immediately  after  the 
seventh  of  the  marriage  blessings,  towards  the  end  of  the 
service  (Singer,  p.  299).  Now  the  original  custom  was,  at 
the  conclusion  of  this  blessing,  for  the  Rabbi  to  pass  a 
glass  of  wine  to  the  bridegroom,  and  then  to  the  bride, 
retaining  the  glass  in  his  hand  while  they  sipped  its  con- 
tents. After  the  bride  had  drained  it,  the  Rabbi  then 
handed  the  empty  glass  to  the  bridegroom,  who  turned 
round  from  facing  east  to  the  north,  and  hurled  the  glass 
at  the  north  wall.  This  was  the  original  custom.  Now- 
adays the  bridegroom  simply  takes  an  empty  glass  and 
crushes  it  under  foot.  But  why  was  the  glass  originally 
hurled  at  the  north  side  ?  It  seems  possible  to  explain 
this  from  the  s3'mbolical  significance  of  the  north  in  the 
Old  Testament.  The  north  was  regarded  as  the  quarter 
whence  evil  or  invasion  arises   (especially  in  Jeremiah, 


*  Abrahams',  op.  cit.,  p.   187, 


288    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

e.g.,  i^^"^^,  and  often),  and  also  as  the  region  in  which 
Israel  was  exiled,  and  from  which  the  exiles  were  to  return. 
The  breaking  of  the  symbol  of  joy  effected  by  hurling 
it  in  the  direction  of  the  north  may  thus  be  intended  as 
a  reminder  that  even  a  Jew's  most  joyful  moments  are 
dashed  with  the  bitter  reflection  that  Israel  is  still  in 
exile.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  ending  of  the  seventh 
blessing,  which  runs  :  "  Soon  may  there  be  heard  in  the  cities 
of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the  voice  of  joy  and 
gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  the  voice  of  the 
bride,  the  jubilant  voice  of  bridegrooms  from  their  canopies, 
and  of  youths  from  their  feasts  of  song."  No  doubt  the 
general  sentiment  that  all  Hfe's  pleasures  have  a  strain 
of  sadness  has  also  contributed  to  maintain  the  ceremony. 
The  sentiment  thus  in  true  Oriental  fashion  expressed, 
reminds  one  of  the  two  last  stanzas  of  Fitzgerald's 
"  Omar  "  : — 

Yon  rising  moon  that  looks  for  us  again— 
How  oft  hereafter  will  she  wax  and  wane  ; 
How  oft  hereafter,   rising,  look  for  us 
Through  this  same  garden — and  for  one  in  vain  ! 
And  when,  like  her.  Oh  Saki,  you  shall  pass 
Among  the  guests  star-scattered  on  the  grass 
And  in  your  joyous  errand  reach  the  spot 
Where  I  made  one — turn  down  an  empty  glass. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that 
a  most  interesting  specimen  of  a  fragment  of  what  is 
possibly  an  old  Jewish  wedding-glass  has  been  found  in  a 
Roman  tomb,  which  probably  belongs  to  the  fourth 
century.  "  It  bears  an  elaborate  picture  of  the  Temple, 
with  the  pillared  porch  of  Solomon,  the  columns  known  as 
Jachin  and  Boaz,  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  and 
other  typically  Jewish  emblems.  There  are  two  inscrip- 
tions in  Greek  (the  language  of  the  Jews  in  Rome  for 
several  centuries)  :  '  House  of  peace,  take  the  blessing,' 
and  '  Drink  and  live  with  all  thine.'  "  ^     In  the  Middle 


Benzing 


Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  182.      An  engraving  of  this  is  given  in 
zinger's  Archdologie,  p.  251. 


DIVORCE  289 

Ages,  also,  Jewish  betrothal  rings  often  had  a  picture  of 
Temple  or  Synagogue  engraved  on  them. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Jewish  marriages  are  forbidden 
between  Passover  and  Pentecost — certain  days  being 
excepted  (e.g.,  the  33rd  in  Omer — lyar  i8th).  The 
Romans,  also,  did  not  marry  in  May— to  which  fact  the 
modern  custom  may  owe  its  origin.' 

Another  Jewish  institution  connected  with  marriage, 
which  must  not  be  passed  over,  is  that  of  the  Shadchan 
(match-maker,  desponsator),  or  Jewish  marriage-broker. 
He  will  be  a  familar  figure  to  readers  of  Mr.  Zangwill. 

The  following  short  description  of  this  personage  must 
here  suffice  :  "  Owing  to  the  early  age  at  which  marriages 
used  to  be  solemnized  among  Jews,  it  became  customary  to 
have  the  matches  made  up  by  the  relatives  or  friends,  and 
ultimately  a  special  person  undertook  to  bring  appropriate 
parties  together  with  a  view  to  marriage.  Also,  from 
the  same  cause,  the  chief  circumstance  to  be  considered 
in  the  matter  was  the  dowry  and  the  settlement  to  be 
given  by  the  bridegroom,  and  the  Shadchan  or  match- 
maker, gradually  devoted  his  chief  attention  to  these 
mundane  matters.  In  reward  for  his  trouble  it  became 
the  custom  for  him  to  claim  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
settlement.  Many  Rabbis  were  glad  to  act  as  Shadchdnim 
without  any  remuneration,  as  it  is  a  special  mitzvah  to 
promote  marriages  among  the  daughters  and  sons  of 
Israel,  The  institution  of  Shadchan — which  is  still  active 
among  certain  classes  of  Jews — often  leads  to  much 
dissatisfaction,  which  at  times  finds  expression  in  the 
civil  courts.  "2 

Divorce. — Before  discussing  the  subject  of  divorce,  a 
word  must  be  said  on  the  status  of  marriage  in  general 
among  the  Jews.  It  is  more  or  less  well  known  that 
polygamy  was  formally  abolished  among  the  Jews  by  the 
great  Rabbi  Gershom  (960-1028),  who  prohibited  bigamy 


»  C£.  Abrahams,  op.  cit.  p.   182.  ^Jewish  Year  Book. 

30— (2417) 


290    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

on  pain  of  ex-communication,  and  forbade  the  forcible 
divorce  of  the  wife,  and  actually  won  acceptance  for  these 
enactments  (though  issued  on  his  own  authority  alone) 
from  the  Jews  in  Europe.  "  Since  his  days  monogamy  has 
been  the  law  as  well  as  the  custom  of  all  Western  Jews."  i 

But  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  polygamy  had  been 
prevalent  among  the  Jews  to  any  great  extent  before  this 
time. 

In  deaHng  with  the  whole  question  of  the  status  of 
women,  of  marriage  and  divorce,  it  is  necessary  to  remem- 
ber that  Jewish  practice  has  always  been  ahead  of  Jewish 
Law.  Legally,  the  position  of  Jewish  women  in  all  these 
matters  is  very  low,  but  in  reality  this  is  by  no  means  the 
case.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  Old  Testament 
(where,  though  polygamy  is  treated  as  tolerable,  mono- 
gamy is  clearly  pointed  to  as  the  better  way)  it  may  be 
remarked  that  the  New  Testament  gives  no  hint  that 
Jewish  practice  was  other  than  monogamcus. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  Talmud — monogamy  is  pre- 
supposed throughout.  "  Of  the  array  of  Rabbis  named  in 
the  Talmud,"  says  Mr.  Israel  Abrahams,  "  not  a  sohtary 
instance  can  be  found  of  a  bigamist.  Constant  references 
are  made  in  Rabbinical  literature  to  a  man's  wife,  never 
once  to  his  wives." 

A  few  of  the  Rabbinical  sayings  on  the  topic  of  marriage 
and  the  married  state  are  worth  noting.  "  Not  money 
but  character  is  the  best  dowry  of  a  wife  "  ;  "  When  his 
wife  dies,  a  man's  world  is  darkened,  his  step  is  slow, 
his  mind  is  heavy  ;  she  dies  in  him,  he  in  her  "  ;  "A 
man  must  not  make  a  woman  weep,  for  God  counts  her 
tears  "  ;     "  Marriages  are  made  in  Heaven." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Talmud  (quoting  the  example  of 
Ahab)  warns  against  following  the  advice  of  a  wife  {Baba 
Metzia,  ^(f)  ;  a  domineering  wife,  according  to  the 
same  authority,  makes  life  not  worth  living  (Betza,  32''). 

^  Abrahams,  op.  cit.  ibid. 


DIVORCE   LAWS  291 

The  Jewish  woman  thus  in  reahty  has  always  occupied 
a  more  dignified  position  than  her  legal  status  would 
seem  to  suggest.  It  is  necesary  to  bear  this  point  in  mind 
in  estimating  the  Divorce  Laws. 

It  is  well-known  that  according  to  the  Mosaic  Law 
(Deut.  24^  f.)  a  man  could  divorce  a  wife  if  she  found  "  no 
favour  in  his  eyes."  In  the  time  of  our  Lord  the  practical 
interpretation  of  this  law  was  a  subject  of  controversy 
between  the  rival  schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammai.  One  of 
the  test  questions  put  to  our  Lord  was  concerned  with 
this  subject  :  "  The  Pharisees  also  came  unto  Him 
tempting  him,  and  saying  unto  Him,  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man 
to  put  away  his  wife  for  every  cause  ?  "  How  our  Lord 
dealt  with  it  is  also  described  (Matt,  ig^"^^)  jjig  school 
of  Shammai  took  the  strict,  that  of  Hillel  the  lax,  view. 
According  to  the  latter,  a  man  might  divorce  his  wife 
if  she  even  spoilt  his  food !  while  Rabbi  Akiba  (second 
century),  the  most  prominent  Rabbi  of  his  time,  went  so 
far  as  to  say  that  a  man  might  put  away  his  wife  if  he  had 
found  another  fairer  than  she  !  {Gittin  ix,  10.)  But 
it  must  not  be  imagined  that  such  laxity  was  ever 
reduced  to  practice.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
Rabbi  Akiba's  dictum  was  meant  seriously.  He  was 
addicted  to  drawing  strict  logical  conclusions  even  when 
they  landed  him  in  a  palpable  absurdity.  It  is  quite 
certain  that  his  dictum  was  never  reduced  to  practice 
among  the  Jews  as  a  customary  law. 

The  tendency  in  practice  was  to  discourage  Divorce 
as  much  as  possible,  and  to  place  as  many  obstacles  as 
could  be  in  its  way.  Thus  a  man  was  not  allowed  to 
divorce  his  wife  until  he  had  paid  the  settlement  mentioned 
in  the  Kethubdh  or  marriage-settlement.  About  the  year 
1000  A.D.  (when  monogamy  was  legally  established  by 
Rabbi  Gershom)  it  was  further  enacted  that  the  wife  could 
not  be  divorced  against  her  will,  unless  for  a  specific 
cause — e.g.,  unfaithfulness.  A  wife  who  obstinately 
refused  to  follow  her  husband  to  a  new  home  was  liable 


292     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  divorce.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  Mediaeval 
Church  occasionally  permitted  departures  from  the 
monogamous  principle  of  an  analogous  kind.  Thus  Mr. 
Abrahams  quotes  the  Church  Council  of  Vermene  (a.d. 
752)  which  seems  to  have  enacted  that  "  when  a  wife 
refused  to  accompany  her  husband  on  a  journey,  the 
husband  might  marry  again,  if  he  had  no  hope  of  returning 
home."  1  But  such  license  was  extremely  exceptional, 
as  a  perusal  of  the  article  "  Marriage  "  s.v.  Divorce,  in 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  Christian  Antiquities  (to  which 
Mr.  Abrahams  appeals)  will  show.  Still,  ecclesiastical 
enactments,  it  must  be  confessed,  have  by  no  means  always 
displayed  the  strictness  of  our  Lord's  rule. 

The  Rabbinical  Law  also  permitted  divorce  and  re- 
marriage, if  a  wife  had  been  forcibly  captured  and  the 
husband  thus  deprived  of  her  society  ;  or  if  a  wife  deserted 
her  husband  or  refused  to  join  him  on  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem.  If  the  wife  became  insane  or  infirm  it  was 
thought  kinder  to  permit  the  husband  to  commit  a 
bigamous  marriage  than  to  insist  on  divorce. 

What  has  just  been  said  regarding  Jewish  practice 
apphes  only  to  Western  Jews.  In  Mohammedan  lands 
monogamy  was  by  no  means  the  rule.  "  In  the  East, 
as  well  as  in  Spain  under  the  Moors,  in  the  Levant  and 
Southern  Italy,  the  monogamous  enactment  of  Rabbi 
Gershom  was  never  formally  recognized  by  the  Jews."  ^ 
Among  the  Jews  of  Spain  bigamy  prevailed  as  late  as  the 
fourteenth  century.  A  European  Jew,  however,  who 
settled  in  the  East,  was  bound  by  Rabbi  Gershom's 
decree.  It  must  always  be  remembered,  however,  that 
polygamy  can  never  (even  in  Mohammedan  countries)  be 
practised  by  the  majority,  owing  to  its  expense.  In  any 
case,  however,  it  weakens  the  moral  fibre  of  a  community 
where  it  is  sanctioned,  and  in  this  respect  the  Oriental 
Jews  are  on  a  lower  plane  than  the  European.     In  earher 

1  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  117.  *  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  118.  f. 


"  GET  "  293 

times  initative  in  the  matter  of  divorce  was  not  allowed 
to  the  Jewish  woman.  The  only  apparent  contradiction 
to  this  rule  known  to  the  writers  is  found  in  Mark  lo^^'  ", 
where  the  words  ascribed  to  our  Lord,  forbidding  re- 
marriage after  divorce,  speak  not  only  of  a  husband  putting 
away  his  wife,  but  contemplate  the  possibility  of  a  wife 
putting  away  her  husband  ("  And  if  a  woman  shall  put 
away  her  husband,"  etc.).  But  in  the  parallel  passages 
in  Matt.  5^^^  and  Luke  i6^^,  the  second  clause  about  the 
woman  putting  away  her  husband  is  absent  ;  its  presence 
in  St.  Mark's  Gospel  seems  due  to  Roman  influence,  under 
which  our  Lord's  precept  has  been  extended  to  meet  the 
possibilities  of  Roman  Law.  The  latter  allowed  the  wife 
as  well  as  the  husband  to  take  the  initiative.  This  feature 
in  the  second  Gospel  is  thus  an  interesting  confirmation 
of  the  theory  that  it  was  intended  primarily  for  Roman 
or  Latin   Christians. 

The  later  Rabbis,  however,  permitted  the  wife  to  claim 
divorce  if  ill-treated  by  her  husband,  or  if  he  changed 
his  religion,  or  if  he  had  to  leave  his  country  to  avoid  the 
consequences  of  crime.^ 

At  all  times  divorce  could  only  be  carried  out  by  the 
proper  and  formal  execution  of  a  document  called  in  the 
Bible  a  "  bill  of  divorcement,"  and  by  the  later  Jews 
Get.  The  later  Rabbinical  legislation  made  the  writing 
and  delivery  of  this  document  difficult  and  protracted, 
"  in  order  (says  Dr.  Friedlander)  to  faciUtate  attempts  at 
reconciliation."  The  ceremony  of  divorce  is  as  follows  : 
The  husband,  in  the  presence  of  ten  witnesses,  hands  the 
Get  to  his  wife.  Both  parties  are  formally  questioned— 
the  husband  as  to  whether  he  has  made  any  vow  forcing 
him  to  the  act,  from  which  he  can  have  dispensation  ;  the 


*  Apparently  divorces,  conditional  on  the  husband's  non- 
return from  abroad  within  three  or  more  years,  are  not  unknown, 
even  in  modern  days.  For  the  Get  in  modern  Jewry  cf.  in 
Zang%viirs  They  thai  Walk  in  Darkness,  the  story  entitled 
"  Incurable," 


294     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

wife  also  is  asked  whether  she  is  wilhng  to  accept  the 
divorce.  The  Get  is  framed  as  follows  :  "On  such 
a  day,  of  such  a  month,  of  such  a  year  (era  of  Creation), 
I,  such  an  one,  son  of  such  an  one,  from  such  a  place,  and 
by  whatever  other  name  or  surname,  I,  or  my  parent,  or 
my  birthplace  are  known  by,  of  my  own  will  and  purpose 
and  without  compulsion,  dismiss,  quit,  repudiate  thee, 
such  an  one,  daughter  of  such  an  one,  from  such  a  place, 
and  by  whatever  other  name  or  surname,  thou,  or  thy 
parent,  or  thy  birthplace  art  known  by,  who  up  to  this 
time  hast  been  my  wife.  And  now  I  dismiss,  quit,  and 
repudiate  thee  that  thou  be  free,  and  have  the  power 
of  going  away  with  any  other  man.  And  no  one  on  earth 
is  to  hinder  thee  from  this  day  forward  for  ever.  And 
now,  behold,  thou  art  permitted  to  be  the  wife  of  any 
man.  And  this  is  to  be  thy  bill  of  divorce,  the  instrument 
of  thy  dismissal,  and  the  letter  of  thy  quittance,  according 
to  the  law  of  Moses  and  of  Israel."  (Then  follow  the 
signatures  of  two  witnesses.)  ^ 

It  should  be  added  that  a  divorced  woman  may  not 
marry  again  within  ninety  days. 

The  law  of  monogamy  was  made  somewhat  difficult  to 
adjust  by  the  Mosaic  enactment  with  regard  to  the  brother 
of  a  deceased  husband  (who  died  childless)  marrying  the 
widow.  The  technical  name  for  such  a  marriage  of  obliga- 
tion is  Yihbum  or  Yehdmdh.  The  duty  might,  however, 
be  refused  (Deut.  25  ^"^° ;  cf.  Ruth  4'),  and  the  refusal 
is  known  from  the  ceremony  formerly  accompanying  it, 
as  Chalitzdh  (Ut.,  "  removal,"  viz.,  of  the  shoe).  In 
practice,  the  Yihhum  (which,  of  course,  might  involve 
bigamy)  is  never  carried  out  ;  but  Chalitzah  is  often  re- 
sorted to.  Chalitzah  is  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  divorce  : 
and  until  Chalitzah  is  given    the  widow  cannot   marry 

*  An  exact  facsimile  of  the  original  of  such  a  document  can 
be  seen  in  Surenhusius,  Mishnah,  iii,  324  ;  Dr.  Dalman  also 
gives  the  Aramaic  text  of  one  in  his  Arammsche  Dialektproben 
und  Lesestiicke,   p.  5. 


WIFE   DESERTION  295 

again.  It  must  also  be  given  personally  in  the  presence 
of  the  two  parties.  As  the  brother-in-law,  in  some  cases, 
is  living  a  great  distance  away,  the  obligation  is  sometimes 
rather  irksome. • 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  a  divorced  woman — 
whether  by  Get  or  Chalitzah — cannot  marry  a  Cohen. 
With  regard  to  the  practice  of  English  Jews,  the  facts  are 
as  follows  :  Following  the  Talmudic  rule  that  "  the  law 
of  the  country  is  binding  upon  them,"  the  English  Jews 
"  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the  civil  courts  of  the  country." 
Marriages,  therefore,  that  would  not  have  the  sanction  of 
the  laws  of  the  country  are  not  solemnized  ;  nor  is  Get 
granted  unless  divorce  has  been  decreed  by  the  civil 
courts.  But  in  both  cases  it  is  considered  essential  to 
supplement  the  civil  forms  by  the  religious. 

On  the  other  hand,  marriages  allowed  by  the  civil 
law,  but  which  are  contrary  to  Jewish  rehgious  law,  are 
not  recognised  by  Jewish  religious  authority.  Thus 
mixed  marriages  (i.e.,  marriages  between  Jews  and  non- 
Jews),  are  spoken  of  by  Dr.  Friedlander  as  sinful,  "  and," 
he  adds,  "  the  issue  of  such  alliances  must  be  treated  as 
illegitimate.  Those  who  love  their  religion,  and  have  the 
well-being  of  Judaism  at  heart,  will  do  their  utmost  to 
prevent  the  increase  of  mixed  marriages." 

We  have  purposely  left  to  the  last  the  question  of  wife 
desertion,  which  constitutes  the  one  blot  upon  the  other- 
wise happy  conjugal  relations  of  a  large  section  of  the 
Jewish  community  in  East  London.  It  is  still  a  matter  of 
frequent  occurrence  among  the  foreign  Jews  in  London, 
and  in  reality,  has  its  roots  deep  down  in  the  history  of  the 
past,  and  is  one  of  the  indirect  consequences  of  persecution. 

Mr.  Israel  Abrahams  thus  describes  the  evil  as  it  existed 
in  the  Middle  Ages  : — 

"  Wife  desertion  was  an  evil  which  it  was  harder  to 
deal  with,  for,  owing  to  the  unsettlement  of  Jewish  life 

•  It  is  now  often  neglected. 


296    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

under  continuous  persecution,  the  husband  was  frequently 
bound  to  leave  home  in  search  of  alivehhood,  and,  perhaps, 
to  contract  his  service  for  long  periods  to  foreign  employers. 
The  husband  endeavoured  to  make  ample  provision  for 
his  wife's  maintenance  during  his  absence,  or,  if  he  failed 
to  do  so,  the  wife  was  supported  at  the  public  cost,  and 
the  husband  compelled  to  refund  the  sum  so  expended. 
These  absences  grew  to  such  abnormal  lengths  that  in  the 
twelfth  century  it  became  necessary  to  protect  the  wife 
by  Umiting  the  absence  to  eighteen  months,  an  interval 
which  was  only  permitted  to  husbands  who  had  obtained 
the  formal  sanction  of  the  communal  authorities.  On 
his  return  the  husband  was  compelled  to  remain  at  least 
six  months  with  his  family  before  again  starting  on  his 
involuntary  travels."  ^ 

Now,  of  course,  there  is  no  longer  any  persecution,  at 
any  rate  in  this  country,  and  the ' '  communal  authority ' '  has 
nothing  Uke  coercive  power.  Still  the  case  of  the  absentee- 
husband,  who  has  gone  away  in  search  of  work,  is  quite  a 
common  one.  The  deserted  wife  then  appeals  to  the 
Jewish  Board  of  Guardians.  In  some  of  these  cases  there 
is  no  question  of  the  husband  really  abandoning  the  wife. 
He  intends  ultimately  to  return,  or  to  enable  her  to  go  to 
him.  It  has  often  been  discovered  that  there  is  collusion 
between  husband  and  wife,  especially  when,  e.g.,  the 
husband  has  been  obliged  to  emigrate  to  South  Africa  or 
America  for  the  sake  of  health.  There  are  other  cases  also, 
where  real  desertion  does  take  place,  the  husband  seeking 
to  escape  his  family  responsibilities  by  flight.  He  is, 
probably,  out  of  work  at  the  time,  and  thinks,  perhaps, 
that  the  starving  wife  and  children  will  secure  charitable 
assistance  more  easily  in  his  absence.  The  Jewish  Board 
of  Guardians,  however,  refuses  to  encourage  this  idea, 
and  in  such  cases  generally  feels  compelled  to  withhold 
charitable  assistance. 

*  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  8g. 


RELIGIOUS    POSITION   OF   WOMEN        297 

Lastly,  there  is  the  worst  type  of  desertion,  viz.,  in 
order  to  get  rid  of  the  Enghsh  wife  and  secure  another. 
To  evade  the  strict  provisions  of  Enghsh  law,  the  unscru- 
pulous go  abroad,  where,  it  must  be  remembered,  they  have 
been  accustomed  to  a  much  greater  facility  of  divorce 
than  is  permitted  here.  Such  cases  are,  however,  we  believe, 
not  so  numerous  as  is  sometimes  imagined.  The  higher 
sentiment  and  nobler  practice  of  the  Jews  has  always 
asserted  itself  strongly  against  divorce.  By  way  of 
justification  for  this  assertion  the  noble  words  of  Rabbi 
Eliezer,  which  form  the  conclusion  in  the  Gemara  to 
the  Talmudic  treatise  Gittin,  may  here  be  quoted.  Rabbi 
Eliezer  is  there  reported  to  have  said  :  "  Even  the  altar 
drops  tears  when  a  man  divorces  the  wife  and  companion 
of  his  youth,  for  thus  it  is  written  (Mai.  i^^*)  :  '  And  this 
have  ye  done  again,  covering  the  altar  of  the  Lord  with 
tears,  with  weeping  and  with  crying  out.  .  .  .  Yet  ye 
say,  wherefore  ?  Because  the  Lord  hath  been  witness 
between  thee  and  the  wife  of  thy  youth  against  whom 
thou  hast  dealt  treacherously,  although  she  is  thy 
companion,  and  the  wife  of  thy  covenant.'  " 

II.    The  Religious  Position  of  Jewish  Women. 

With  regard  to  the  rehgious  position  of  Jewish  women, 
it  is  generally  assumed  that  this  is  a  very  low  one.  Every 
one  knows  that  one  of  the  blessings  assigned  to  men  in  the 
Sj-Tiagogue  service  runs  :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord 
our  God,  King  of  the  Universe,  who  hast  not  made  me  a 
woman  "  (Singer,  p.  6).  And  no  doubt  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  truth  in  this  widely-held  notion.  But  the  bald 
statement  of  woman's  inferiority  in  rehgious  matters 
requires  some  quahfication  and  explanation. 

According  to  Jewish  ideas,  the  special  and  supreme 
sphere  of  woman  is  the  home.  There  her  position  has 
always  been  one  of  unchallenged  dignity.  Public  affairs 
and  public  activities  lie  outside  the  home — and  therefore 


298    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

outside  woman's  special  sphere.  Consequently  in  public 
worship  her  role  has  been  a  purely  passive  one. 

The  general  principle  applied  to  women  was  "  The  King's 
daughter  within  the  palace  is  all  glorious  "  (Ps.  45^*). 
but  not  outside  of  it.^  This  maxim  is  the  Rabbinical 
equivalent  of :  "  Let  the  women  keep  silence  in  the 
churches."  The  duties  of  the  home  were  felt  to  be 
incompatible  with  the  rigorous  demands  of  public  service. 
Therefore  women  were  not  bound  by  the  affirmative 
precepts  of  the  Law. 

Still,  the  rehgious  feeling  that  is  the  common  possession 
of  Jewish  as  well  as  of  other  women  was  bound  to  assert 
itself  ;  and  it  did  so  from  time  to  time  in  various  ways. 

That  woman  has  played  no  mean  part  in  Jewish  religious 
history  can  easily  be  shown.  With  regard  to  the  Old 
Testament,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  such  names 
as  those  of  Hannah,  Deborah,  and  the  great  woman  of 
Shunem.  The  latter  evidently  attended  some  form  of 
worship  presided  over  by  the  prophet  on  festivals  and 
Sabbaths  (cf.  Kings.  423 :  "  Wherefore  wilt  thou  go  to 
the   prophet  ?    it  is  neither  new  moon  nor  Sabbath  "). 

It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  "  the  new  moon  was 
especially  a  woman's  holiday,  and  was  so  observed  even  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  for  the  women  refrained  from  doing 
work  on  that  day.  The  explanation  given  by  the  Rabbis," 
says  Professor  Schechter,  "  is  that  when  the  men  broke 
off  their  golden  earrings  to  supply  material  for  the  golden 
calf,  the  women  refused  to  contribute  their  trinkets,  for 
which  good  behaviour  a  special  day  of  repose  was  granted 
to  them.  Some  Kabbahsts  even  maintain  that  the 
original  worshippers  of  the  golden  calf  continue  to  exist 
on  earth,  their  souls  having  successively  migrated  into 
various  bodies,  while  their  punishment  consists  in  this, 
that  they  are  ruled  over  by  their  wives."  ^  In  the  time 
of  the  second  Temple  we  have  Esther  (who  according  to 

>  Schechter,  Studies,  p.  391.  *  Schechter,  op.  cii..  p.  384. 


"MOTHER  OF  THE  SYNAGOGUE"    299 

tradition  addressed  a  long  extempore  prayer  to  God  before 
presenting  herself  before  the  throne  of  Ahasuerus  to  plead 
her  people's  cause  ;  women  were  always  enjoined  to 
attend  the  reading  of  the  Book  of  Esther)  and  Judith  ; 
and  in  Maccabees  mention  is  made  of  "  the  women  girt 
with  sack  cloth,  and  the  maidens  who,  holding  up  their 
hands  to  heaven,  made  supplication."  It  is  well  known 
that  in  the  second  Temple  the  women  had  a  special  court. 
Galleries  around  this  court  were  reserved  for  their  special 
use,  and  Professor  Schechter  thinks  that  the  arrangement 
of  the  Synagogue,  by  which  women  have  a  special  gallery 
or  part  partitioned  off  for  their  use,  was  modelled  on  this. 
It  was  in  the  Court  of  the  Women  that  the  King  every 
seven  years  publicly  read  certain  portions  of  the  Law, 
and  women  were  expected  to  attend  this  function. 

It  is  interesting,  also,  to  note  that  though,  according 
to  the  Law,  women  were  exempted  from  putting  their 
hands  on  the  victim  (in  sacrifice),  yet  according  to  an 
eye-witness,  they  were  allowed  to  do  so  if  they  desired  it, 
the  reason  alleged  being  "  to  give  calmness  of  the  spirit, 
or  satisfaction,  to  women."  Coming  to  the  Sjoiagogue, 
ancient  epitaphs  attest  the  fact  that  certain  women, 
probably  by  their  religious  zeal  in  charity  (bestowal  of 
kindness),  earned  such  titles  as  "  Mistress  of  the  Synagogue" 
and  "  Mother  of  the  Synagogue."  In  the  Synagogue 
women  said  the  eighteen  Benedictions  {Shemoneh  '  Est  eh) . 
But  instances  are  on  record  that  they  sometimes  offered 
short  prayers  composed  by  themselves  as  well.  Professor 
Schechter  cites  the  following  as  an  example. 

Rabbi  Jochanan  relates  that  one  day  he  observed  a 
young  girl  fall  on  her  face  and  pray,  "  Lord  of  the 
world.  Thou  hast  created  Paradise,  Thou  hast  created  hell, 
Thou  hast  created  the  wicked,  Thou  hast  created  the 
righteous.  May  it  be  Thy  will  that  I  may  not  serve  as  a 
stumbling-block  to  them." 

What  seems  to  have  much  curtailed  women's  religious 
privileges  in  the  Synagogue  is  the  dictum  of  a  famous 


300    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

Rabbi  known  as  Rabbi  Eliezer  (second  century,  early), 
who,  apparently  on  moral  grounds,  thought  it  inexpedient 
that  women  should  study  the  Law.  Though  other  Rabbis 
were  found  who  did  not  share  Ehezer's  views  on  this 
matter,  his  advice  was  followed  by  later  generations,  and 
became  the  rule  in  education.  "  The  fact  that  women 
were  exempted  from  certain  affirmative  laws,  which 
become  operative  only  at  certain  seasons — e.g.,  the 
taking  of  the  palm-branch  on  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles — 
must  also  (to  use  Professor  Schechter's  words)  have 
contributed  to  weaken  their  position  as  a  religious  factor 
in  Judaism." 

Sometimes  women  compensated  themselves  in  their 
own  way.  "  The  daughters  of  Israel,"  we  are  told,  "  were 
stringent,  and  laid  certain  restrictions  on  themselves." 
They  were  also  allowed  to  form  a  quorum  by  themselves 
for  the  purpose  of  saying  grace,  but  they  could  not  be 
counted  with  males  for  this  end.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  women  allowed  themselves  to  be  debarred  from  attend- 
ing service  at  Synagogue.  The  Talmudic  tractate 
Soferim  informs  us  that  even  "  the  httle  daughters  of 
Israel  were  accustomed  to  go  to  the  Synagogue."  A 
curious  instance  of  women  asserting  themselves  in  this 
direction  meets  us  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  apparently,  it  became  quite 
general  for  women,  as  they  did  not  know  Hebrew,  to  pray 
in  the  vernacular.  Apparently  in  the  sixteenth  century 
this  custom  had  died  out,  for  we  find  a  Rabbi  of  that 
period  regretting  its  cessation.  "  When  they  prayed  in 
the  vernacular,"  he  says,  "  they  understood  what  they 
were  saying,  whilst  now  they  only  gabble  off  their 
prayers."  ^ 

A  later  compromise  in  this  direction  meets  us  in  the 
so-called  "  Supplications,"  which  form  a  supplement  to  the 
ordinary  liturgy,  are  written  in  German,  and  are  largely 

1  Cf.  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  334  f. 


"  VORSAGERIN  "  301 

the  composition  of  women.  Professor  Schechter  mentions 
that  in  one  of  these  collections  in  the  British  Museum  he 
has  discovered  a  special  supphcation  for  servant-maids, 
and  also  for  their  mistresses. 

There  are  also  devotional  manuals  for  women,  written 
in  German,  on  the  so-called  three  women's  commandments 
(which  deal  with  purity,  charity,  and  the  lighting  of  the 
Sabbath  lamp).  In  Russia,  too,  the  numerous  prayer- 
books  issued  with  the  Hebrew  text  and  Yiddish  translation 
are  mainly  intended  for  the  use  of  the  praying  women 
(as  most  male  Jews  in  Russia  read  and  understand  Hebrew 
with  ease).  In  this  connexion  a  curious  institution 
has  grown  up,  viz.,  that  of  the  Vorsagerin,  or  woman- 
reader,  who  reads  the  prayers  and  translates  them  into 
the  vernacular  for  the  benefit  of  the  less  learned.  In 
Poland  or  Russia,  every  Synagogue  has  such  a  woman- 
reader,  while  they  are  not  unknown,  it  is  believed,  even 
in  London. 

One  other  point  may  also  be  mentioned  here,  viz., 
that  according  to  Rabbi  Bachrach  women  used  to  say 
Kaddish  in  the  Synagogue  when  their  parents  left  no 
male  posterity. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  in  certain  reform 
congregations  the  custom  has  grown  up  in  recent  years  of 
confirming  girls  ;  mixed  choirs  in  the  same  communities 
are  also  an  innovation.  Speaking  of  the  composition  of 
the  congregations  of  the  present  East  End  Synagogues, 
Mr.  Lewis  in  The  Jew  in  London,  draws  a  contrast 
between  that  of  the  average  church,  where  women  and 
children  preponderate,  and  that  of  the  East  End  Synogogue 
where  they  are  in  a  large  minority.  The  contrast  is 
significant.  It  suggests  that  Christianity  has  much 
more  to  offer  women  than  Judaism.  The  same  feature 
must  strike  any  attentive  reader  of  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  not  the  least  evidence  of  the  power  of  the  religion  of 
the  Incarnation  and  the  religion  of  Love.  Mr.  Lewis 
goes  on  to  remark  :     "  The  wife  of  the  East  End  Jew  does 


302    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

not  attend  Synagogue  very  often.  Her  chief  duty  is  to 
train  up  her  children  well  and  religiously,  to  keep  a  Kosher- 
house,  and  to  practice  that  bestowal  of  kindnesses  to  which 
Judaism  attaches  more  importance  than  mere  almsgiving." 
The  weak  point  in  modern  Judaism's  attitude  on  this 
subject  is  that  it  does  not  attach  nearly  sufficient 
importance  to  the  definite  religious  training  of  the  woman, 
whose  "  chief  duty  is  to  train  up  her  children  well  and 
religiously."  In  such  training,  religious  responsibility 
is  an  essential  element. 

The  same  contrast  between  woman's  irresponsible 
position  in  public  worship  on  the  one  hand,  and  her 
domestic  dignity  on  the  other,  is  reflected  in  the  Jewish 
Prayer-Book.  On  the  one  side  we  have  the  Synagogue 
Benediction,  "  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  .  .  .  who  hast 
not  made  me  a  woman"  (Singer,  p.  6)  ;  on  the  other,  the 
splendid  tribute  to  the  woman  of  worth,  taken  from  the 
last  chapter  of  Proverbs,  which  is  chanted  by  the  master 
of  the  house  at  home  on  the  eve  of  the  Sabbath  ("  A  woman 
of  worth  who  can  find  ?  For  her  price  is  far  above  rubies. 
The  heart  of  her  husband  trusteth  in  her,"  etc.  See 
Singer,  p.  123). 

III.  The  Jewish  Home. 
This  serves  as  an  excellent  transitional  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Jewish  Home.  We  have  already  spoken  of 
the  large  place  occupied  by  the  home  in  the  affections 
of  the  orthodox  Jew.  Its  characteristic  features  could 
hardly  be  summed  up  better  than  in  the  following  para- 
graph of  Mr.  Lewis's  essay.  "  The  beauty  of  Jewish  home 
life  (he  says)  has  always  struck  the  outside  observer. 
This  is  primarily  due  to  religious  influence  ;  for  Judaism 
consecrates  the  home,  which  is  the  sphere  of  some  of  its 
most  touching  ceremonials.  Friday  evening,  which 
ushers  in  the  Sabbath,  is  in  particular  a  family  festivity, 
as  all  readers  of  Daniel  Deronda  will  remember. 
Jewish  children,  sent    for    a  fortnight's  hohday  in  the 


DEATH   AND   MOURNING  303 

country,  and  living  for  the  time  amongst  Christians,  have 
often  told  me  how  they  miss  the  usual  family  gathering, 
when  the  Sabbath  lamp  is  lighted,  the  cup  of  wine  is 
drunk,  and  the  father  pronounces  a  blessing  upon  his 
children  (see  Singer,  p.  122).  It  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  the  happiest  hours  of  a  Jew's  Hfe  are  those  spent 
within  his  home  ;  and  family  ties  are  in  consequence 
much  stronger  among  Jews  than  in  the  outside  world. 
This  fact  will  help  to  explain  one  of  the  means  by  which 
Judaism  resists  the  tendency  to  assimilation.  Although 
neither  the  knowledge  nor  the  practice  of  religion  comes 
by  inheritance,  yet  Judaism  is  strengthened  by  forces  of 
early  association  and  ancestral  love."  ^ 

IV.  Death  and  Mourning. 
On  the  approach  of  death  the  afflicted  one  makes 
religious  preparation.  An  order  of  prayer  to  be  said  by 
a  sick  person  may  be  seen  in  Singer,  p.  314  f.  It  consists 
of  a  number  of  psalms  (Pss.  23,  103,  139),  followed  by  a 
confession  of  sin  (Singer,  p.  316).  A  fuller  form  of 
confession  on  a  death-bed  is  given  in  Singer,  p.  317.^ 
At  this  solemn  moment  some  communal  friends  and  neigh- 
bours are  usually  present.  Visiting  the  sick,  administering 
words  and  deeds  of  kindness,  praying  with  and  for  them, 
form  a  definite  religious  duty  [Biqqur  Cholim) .  In  every 
congregation  there  is  a  special  guild  which  definitely 
undertakes  these  duties,  and  it  is  known  as  "  The  Guild 


*   The  Jew  in  London, -p-   181  f. 

»  The  last  words  of  the  dying  are  the  Shema'  :  "  Hear,  O  Israel, 
the  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One."  As  is  well  known,  many 
superstitions  centre  round  the  Maldkh  ha-Mdveth,  or  Angel  of 
Death,  among  the  Jews.  One  may  be  mentioned  here.  Accord- 
ing to  popular  Jewish  notions,  no  man  can  die  unless  the  Angel 
of  Death  summons  him.  "  As  he  is  supposed  to  have  a  writ  from 
the  Most  High,  in  which  the  person  who  is  to  die  is  mentioned  by 
name,  as  a  last  resource,  in  very  rare  instiinces,  it  is  customary 
for  Jews  to  have  their  names  solemnly  changed  when  at  their  last 
gasp."     (Jewish   Year  Book.) 


304    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

for  Visiting  the  Sick."  When  death  occurs,  friends  and 
relatives  give  expression  to  grief.  Those  who  have  been 
present  use  the  Benediction  of  Resignation  to  the  Divine 
WiU  :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the 
Universe,  who  art  the  true  Judge."  Others  (who  have 
not  been  present)  also  use  this  formula  on  hearing  the 
news.  This  declaration  is  also  accompanied  by  the  rending 
of  the  garment.'  The  outer  garment  is  cut  and  left 
unbound  during  the  thirty  days  of  mourning.  The 
mourners  (father,  mother,  son,  daughter,  brother  and  sister), 
in  order  to  be  able  to  devote  all  their  time  to  the  preparation 
for  burial,  are  freed  from  all  religious  obligations  till  after 
that  event. 

Two  or  three  days  usually  intervene  between  death  and 
burial,  during  which  time  mourners  abstain  from  wine  and 
meat.  (In  Palestine  and  the  East  burial  takes  place  on 
the  day  of  death.) 

Every  act  of  attention  to  the  dead  is  considered  a  work 
of  piety,  and  every  congregation  has  a  guild  whose  members 
devote  themselves  to  fulfilling  these  duties.  It  is  known 
as  the  Holy  Guild  {Chevrah  Kadishah).  Among  the 
Sefardim  such  persons  are  called  Lavadores  (a  Spanish 
word  =  "  washers").  The  late  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  (we 
are  told)  belonged  for  a  long  time  to  the  guild  of  Lavadores, 
and  frequently  performed  the  duties  attached  to  the 
office.'^  From  the  moment  of  death  till  burial  the  corpse 
is  not  left  alone.  The  duty  of  watching  over  and  preparing 
the  dead  for  burial  is  not,  however,  now,  as  a  rule,  performed 
by  volunteers  as  formerly,  but  by  professional  watchers, 
generally  four  in  number,  who  are  called  Wacher  (German 
=  "  watchers"). 

These  burial  societies  can  be  traced  back,  apparently, 
to  the  fourth  century.  In  the  earlier  period  the  burial 
of  the  dead  was  a  duty  undertaken  by  the  whole  community. 


»  The  rending  of  the  garment  is  confined  to  mourners. 
»  Jewish   Year  Book  (1897-98),  p.  202. 


"  SARGONAS  "  305 

"  All  who  pass  by  when  one  is  buried,"  says  Josephus, 
"must  accompany  the  funeral  and  join  in  the  lamentation." 
In  Bab34onia  this  was  carried  so  far  that  when  a  death  in 
the  Jewish  community  was  announced  every  Jew  ceased 
from  work  and  assisted  in  the  preparations  for  the  funeral. 
In  some  Jewish  congregations  this  custom  has  survived 
to  comparatively  modern  times.  Thus  we  are  told  that 
"  in  1730  all  shops  were  shut  in  Sofia  whenever  a  Jew 
died."  ^  It  was  also  customary  to  pour  all  the  water 
out  of  the  house  where  the  dead  lay  unburied.  It  is  well 
knowTi  that  a  Cohen  is  not  permitted  to  be  present  in  the 
same  place  as  a  dead  body,  except  in  the  case  of  near 
relatives  (Lev,  zi^'^).  it  may  be  remembered  that  the 
Chief  Rabbi  (who  is  a  Cohen)  was  unable  to  be  present  in 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral  at  the  funeral  of  Bishop  Creighton 
and  was  represented  on  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Gollancz. 
The  preparations  for  burial  include  the  cleansing  and  robing 
of  the  body.  The  cleansing  was  formerly  preparatory 
to  an  anointing  with  oil.  But  this  custom  has  now 
disappeared.  The  burial  robes  are  all  of  white  ;  in  the 
Middle  Ages  they  were  red.  They  include  the  sargonas 
and  the  ialith.  The  sargonas  (Germ.  5«^g  =  "  coffin")  is 
a  white  shroud,  and  in  some  countries  it  is  the  custom 
for  the  bride  to  present  her  husband  with  this  article  on 
the  wedding  day.  It  is  worn  by  the  husband  on  New 
Year's  Day  {Rosh  Hashanah),  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
and  on  Seder  evening  (in  some  cases).  On  the  day  of 
the  funeral  the  body  is  borne  to  the  cemetery,  or  Beth 
Chayyim  (  =  "  House  of  Life").  Attached  to  this  is  a 
kind  of  mortuary  chapel  (called  the  "  Hall  "  in  Singer's 
Prayer-Book),  where  the  service  is  said.^  Mr.  Zangwill 
(in  They  that  Walk  in  Darkness,  p.  233,)  calls  it  "  the 
House  of  the  Priests." 

"  In  Talmudic  times,"  we  are  told,  "  the  body  was 


»  Cf.  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  ^t,i. 
»  Singer,  p.  318  £f. 


306    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

carried  on  a  bier  to  the  burial  place,  and  placed  in  the 
ground  so  as  to  be  in  contact  with  it,  either  the  side  or  the 
bottom  of  the  coffin  being  removed  for  that  purpose,  but 
Jewish  coffins  are  now  enclosed."  ^  On  the  principle  that 
Death  is  the  great  leveller,  great  simphcity  is  aimed  at  in 
Jewish  funerals.  Simple  deal  coffins  are,  as  a  rule,  used 
for  rich  and  poor  alike.  Sometimes  emblems  were  used 
suitable  to  the  special  character  of  the  deceased — e.g., 
scrolls  of  the  Law  would  be  placed  on  the  coffin  of  a 
distinguished  teacher,  or  a  Chuppah  on  that  of  a  betrothed 
person.  In  the  past,  too,  it  was  customary  for  women, 
among  them  professional  mourners,  to  follow.  But  Jewish 
ladies  of  the  family  do  not  now,  as  a  rule,  go  to  the  burial 
ground. 

In  the  Ghettos  the  Beth  Chayyim,  or  cemetery,  was 
usually  quite  close — in  the  Jewish  quarter,  in  fact. 
According  to  Jewish  Law,  however,  it  must  be  at  least 
fifty  paces  from  the  nearest  Jewish  house.  But  the  Jewish 
cemetery  was  not  always  close  at  hand.  Thus  at  one  time, 
in  England,  the  only  available  Jewish  cemetery  was  in 
London,  and  the  corpse,  in  consequence,  had  to  be  con- 
veyed sometimes  from  considerable  distances.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  existence  of  such  a  cemetery 
in  Wood  Street  is  attested  in  the  Patent  Roll  of  1285.2 

According  to  the  Talmud,  it  is  supremely  desirable  for 
the  pious  Jew  to  die  and  be  buried  in  the  land  of  Israel. 
"The  land  of  Israel" — one  passage  runs — "is  as  dough 
compared  to  Babylon,  except  in  the  matter  of  burial  " 
{Kethuboth,  116^).  Indeed  one  Rabbi  declares  that  "  the 
dead  outside  the  land  of  Israel  will  not  live  again." 
Accordingly  we  read  of  many  pious  Jews  emigrating  to  the 
Holy  Land  in  order  to  have  the  privilege  of  dying  there. 
In  Mr.  Zangwill's  book.  They  that  Walk  in  Darkness, 
there  is  a  pathetic  study  of  this  type,  entitled,  "  To  die  in 

1  Jewish  Year  Book. 

»  Abrahams,  op.  cit.,  p.  77  f, 


MOURNING  307 

Jerusalem  "  (p.  iii  f.).  The  difficulty  about  those  who 
die  outside  the  Holy  Land  has  given  rise  to  a  fantastic 
superstition.  It  is  believed  by  some  that  on  the  morning 
of  the  Resurrection,  which  will  take  place  at  Messiah's 
advent,  when  the  great  trumpet  shall  sound  and  the  dead 
arise,  those  Israelites  who  have  been  buried  outside  the 
Holy  Land  will  have  to  undertake  a  long  subterranean 
journey  and  dig  and  burrow  their  way  to  the  land  of 
Israel.  For  this  long  passage  underground,  the  Pohsh 
Jews,  it  is  said,  still  provide  their  dead  with  httle  wooden 
forks,  with  which  to  dig  their  way.' 

Mourning. — After  the  burial  the  mourners  return 
home  and  keep  seven  days  of  mourning,  known  as  Shiva 
(Hebrew  =  "  seven").  During  this  period  it  is  customary 
for  them  to  abstain  from  work  and  sit  upon  the  ground, 
on  cushions,  or  on  low  seats.  This  is  known  as  "  sitting 
Shiva."  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  they  return  home  to 
a  repast  prepared  for  them  by  friends,  a  principal  item 
in  which  is  hard-boiled  eggs,  which  are  supposed  to  be 
a  symbol  of  hfe.  These  "  meals  of  condolence  "  are 
continued,  and  consolatory  visits  made  by  friends  during 
the  whole  seven  days.  On  Sabbath,  however,  there  is  a 
break  ;  they  no  longer  sit  on  the  ground.  From  the 
eighth  day  to  the  end  of  the  month  mourning  of  a  less 
severe  character  is  continued  by  the  relatives  (altogether 
thirty  days).  But  on  the  part  of  the  children  this  lasts 
till  the  end  of  the  year.  The  son  of  the  deceased  is 
expected  to  say  Kaddish  for  a  parent  in  the  Synagogue 
every  morning  and  evening  for  eleven  months  afterwards. 
A  father,  however,  cannot  say  Kaddish  for  a  son.  The 
funeral  oration  is  spoken  either  at  the  grave,  or  in  the 
house  of  mourning,  or  in  the  Synagogue.  In  Mr.  Zang- 
will's  King  of  the  Schnorrers,  this  role  was  fulfilled 
by  a  remarkable  character  known  as  "  Rabbi  Remorse 
Red  Herring."     Another  function  which  now  plays  a 

^  Hershon.  Rabb.  Comtn.  on  Genesis,  p.  283,  note. 


308    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

large  part  in  Jewish  life  is  the  "  Setting  of  the  tombstone," 
which  generally  takes  place  some  months  after  the  funeral. 
A  special  service  is  provided  for  this  in  the  Prayer-Book 
(Singer,  p.  325  f.).  A  description  of  one  is  given  in  Mr. 
Zangwill's  They  that  Walk  in  Darkness,  p.  233.  The 
obituary  columns  of  the  Jewish  Chronicle  are  filled  with  the 
dates  of  these  functions.  In  mentioning  the  name  of  a 
deceased  friend  it  is  customary  to  add  some  such  formula 
as  "  Peace  be  upon  him,"  or  "  His  memory  be  for  a 
blessing,"  or  "  The  memory  of  the  righteous  be  for  a 
blessing,"  or  "  may  his  rest  be  Eden."  The  Hebrew 
equivalents  of  these  expressions  are  usually  abbreviated 
in  writing.  Sometimes  another  pious  formula  is  used, 
viz.  :  "  May  so  and  so  live,"  or  "  May  his  light  continue 
to  shine." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
The  Synagogue  and  the  Sacred  Year  and  Calendar. 

T  E  Synagogue  ;    its  Arrangement  ;    Officers  ;   Services — Arrangement 
of  Calendar — Dates  of  the  Festivals  and  Fasts — The  Jewish  Era. 

I.    The  Synagogue. 

The  name  Synagogue  is  a  Greek  one  meaning 
"  assembly  "  ;  its  Hebrew  equivalent  is  Beth  ha-keneseth, 
i.e.  "  House  of  Assembly,"  a  term,  however,  which  docs 
not  occur  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  conclusion  to  draw 
from  these  facts  is  that  the  Synagogue  did  not  define 
itself  as  an  institution  till  the  Greek  period,  i.e.,  the  period 
subsequent  to  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great,  B.C. 
323.  By  the  time  of  the  New  Testament,  as  everybody 
knows.  Synagogues  had  become  a  widespread  institution, 
and  it  was  owing  to  their  existence  that  Judaism  was  able 
to  perpetuate  itself  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple. 

Ancient  Synagogues  were  arranged  differently  from 
the  modem.  In  the  Talmudic  period  they  seem  to  have 
been  modelled  on  the  Temple — the  entrance  was  from  the 
east,  and  the  Ark  containing  the  scrolls  of  the  law  was 
in  the  west.  In  the  modem  Synagogue  the  position  is 
exactly  reversed — the  Ark  is  placed  in  the  east  end,  and 
the  reader,  while  on  the  Bema,  faces  east. 

The  form  of  the  Synagogue  is  not  fixed — it  is 
sometimes  round,  in  other  cases  octagonal.  The  Great 
Synagogue  in  Duke  Street,  Aldgate,  London,  is  of  the 
latter  shape.  It  reminds  one  somewhat  of  a  basilica. 
At  the  east  end,  in  a  large  recess  covered  by  a  curtain, 
and  fronted  with  circular  marble  steps  (which  are 
surrounded  by  a  rail  of  massive  brass,  with  gates),  is 
the  Ark.  Round  the  other  three  sides  the  seats  for  the 
congregation  are  arranged.  In  the  centre  is  the  Bema 
or  Almemhar  (an  Arabic  word  corrupted  into  Almemar  or 


310    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Alemmar),  i.e.  the  raised  platform  with  rails  from  which 
the  prayers  are  said  and  the  Law  is  read.  Galleries 
run  round  the  three  sides.  In  the  Great  Synagogue, 
the  north  and  south  galleries  are  reserved  for  the  women ; 
the  west  for  the  choir  (of  male  voices).  The  women's 
gallery  up  to  comparatively  recent  times  had  a  grille, 
— but  now  it  is  quite  open.  Sometimes  the  women's 
part  consisted  of  a  separate  room,  with  just  a  small  open- 
ing into  the  Synagogue,  but  otherwise  entirely  separate. 
The  Ark  is  kept,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  in  a 
recess  in  the  east  end,  which  is  called  the  Hekal  (i.e. 
Temple),  or  Kodesh  (i.e.  sanctuary).  In  the  Great 
Synagogue  this  is  enclosed  with  folding  doors,  in  front 
of  which  hangs  the  double  curtain,  which  is  drawn  back 
when  the  Hekal  is  opened.  In  front  of  this  again  is 
suspended  the  Ner  Tamid  or  perpetual  lamp,  which  is 
always  kept  lighted.  On  the  right  of  the  Hekal  is  the 
door  leading  to  the  vestry.  The  fronts  of  the  galleries 
of  the  Great  Synagogue  are  garnished  with  Hebrew 
inscriptions,  enumerating  various  charitable  bequests 
given  by  deceased  members  of  the  congregation. 

The  Ark  is  called  in  the  Mishnah  and  by  the  Sefardim 
Tehhah,  i.e.  chest  or  coffer,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant  (Hebrew  Aron).  But  in  modern 
Hebrew  the  latter  term  [Aron]  is  commonly  employed. 

It  was  customary  in  the  earlier  period  "  on  certain 
extraordinar}'  occasions,  when,  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  rain,  a  general  fast  was  ordered,  for  the  tehhah  with  a 
sefer-torah  in  it,  to  be  carried  into  the  street,  where  a 
special  service  was  held." 

"  The  Sefer-Torah  (book  of  the  law)  is  a  parchment 
scroll  in  which  the  whole  Pentateuch  is  written  by  hand 
upon  calfskin  or  sheepskin,  with  an  ink  made  of  lamp- 
black, in  the  Hebrew  text,  and  in  the  so-called  square 
or  Assyrian  character,  without  vowel  points,  accents, 
or  verse  divisions,  but  the  paragraphs  are  marked 
according  to  the   Masorah,  or  tradition  of  the  text,  some 


THE    INTERIOR   OF  THE   SYNAGOGUE    311 

by  starting  on  a  new  line,  some  by  leaving  a  shorter  or 
longer  blank  in  the  same  line.  The  scroll  is  mounted 
on  wooden  rollers,  is  first  wrapped  in  a  white  band,  and 
then  encased  in  a  silk  or  velvet  robe.  A  silver  hand 
for  pointing  is  hung  by  a  cord  or  chain  ;  often  silver 
ornaments  are  placed  on  the  heads  of  the  rollers.  Every 
Synagogue  of  any  pretensions  has  three  or  more  scrolls 
of  its  own  "  (Dembitz).  The  moment,  in  the  Sabbath 
morning  service,  when  the  Ark  is  opened  and  the  scroll 
solemnly  taken  out  by  the  reader  and  carried  to  the 
Bema,  is  the  most  solemn  one  in  the  service  and  is  marked 
by  an  impressive  ceremony. 

A  striking  feature  about  the  Synagogue  is  the  absence 
of  anything  in  the  nature  of  pictures  or  pictorial  emblems. 
Nothing  in  the  nature  of  images,  portraits,  or  statues 
representing  living  beings,  whether  real  or  imaginary, 
is  to  be  seen.  For  such  symbolism  the  Jew  is  altogether 
unprepared,  and  in  order  that  he  should  not  misunder- 
stand it  a  long  process  of  preliminary  education  would 
be  necessary.  The  only  thing  one  sees  is  Hebrew  inscrip- 
tions— texts  from  scripture  or  charitable  bequests.  The 
device,  however,  known  as  "the  shield  of  David" 
{Mdgen  David),  made  by  two  interlaced  triangles  forming 
a  six-pointed  star,  is  occasionally  seen  in  the  decoration.^ 
But  it  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  of  Jewish  origin.  Another 
noticeable  feature  is  the  absence  of  instrumental  music. 
The  labour  involved  in  producing  such  music  is  held 
(according  to  Rabbinical  law)  to  be  incompatible  with 
the  Sabbath  rest.  Of  course,  it  was  (as  is  well  known) 
an  essential  element  in  the  Temple  service.  But  the 
Rabbinical  view  is  that,  apart  from  the  Temple  service, 
the  Sabbath  laws  remain  in  full  force  for  the  priests  as 
well  as  for  the  rest  of  the  congregation.  Further,  "  its 
absence  (says  Dr.  Friedlander)  though  not  directly  a 
sign  of  mourning  has  served  to  preserve  the  memory  of 

>  Especially  on  the  curtain  of  the  Hekal. 


312    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  and  to  strengthen  our 
longing  for  its  restoration."  But  there  is  a  strong  tendency 
to  introduce  it,  which  has  been  satisfied  in  the  Reform 
Synagogue.  Its  absence,  however,  has  some  large  com- 
pensations. The  singing  of  the  responses,  the  psalms, 
and  hymns  to  the  traditional  melodies  by  choirs  of  highly 
trained  male  voices  is  extremely  beautiful.  Some  of  the 
hymns — like  the  venerable  'En  Kelohenu  and  the 
'A don  '  Olam — that  can  be  heard  every  Sabbath  in  the 
Synagogue  are  strikingly  impressive. 

It  ought  to  be  mentioned  also,  that  before  a  Synagogue 
is  used  for  Divine  worship  it  is  consecrated  [Chinuk). 
The  scrolls  of  the  law  are  carried  round  the  building 
seven  times,  and  then  deposited  solemnly  in  the  Ark. 

Unhke  mosques  or  Roman  Catholic  churches,  Synagogues 
have  from  time  immemorial  been  furnished  with  benches 
and  chairs. 

In  some  cases  the  Beth  Hammidrash  (i.e.  reading  room 
and  library),  is  found  in  close  proximity  to  the  Synagogue, 
where  the  week-day  service  (if  a  minyan  is  present)  can 
be  held.  In  the  larger  Synagogues,  however,  the  week- 
day services  are  usually  held  in  the  ante-room  of  the 
Synagogue  building. 

In  all  cases  public  service — with  responses  and  reading 
of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  from  the  desk — can  only  be 
held  if  a  quorum  of  ten  male  worshippers  above  thirteen 
years  old  is  present.  This  quorum  is  technically  known  as 
the  minyan.  It  is,  however,  held  that  if  nine  are  present, 
and  a  boy  under  age,  but  of  sufficient  intelligence  to 
understand  the  matter,  these  can  form  a  congregation. 
In  some  of  the  smaller  chevras  we  believe  the  rule  about 
the  quorum  is  not  always  adhered  to  now. 

Officers  of  the  Congregation. — The  highest  functionary 
of  a  Jewish  congregation  is  the  Rabbi  (  =  lit.  my  master) 
called  by  the  Sefardim,  the  Chakam  (i.e.  the  learned). 
By  a  congregation  is  meant  a  community  of  Jews  suffici- 
ently numerous  to  maintain  a  Rabbi  or  Rabbinical  Court 


SYNAGOGUE   OFFICERS  313 

{Beth  Din)  made  up  of  three  judges  {Dayyanim).  Such 
a  congregation  may  worship  in  one  or  a  hundred 
Synagogues.  Where  a  congregation  is  too  small  to  main- 
tain a  Rabbi  it  is  known  as  a  yishub,  or  settlement,  and 
is  generally  dependent  on  the  Rabbi  of  the  nearest  town. 

In  London  there  are  not  many  congregations  in  the 
sense  just  explained.  Thus  the  Ashkenazic  congregation, 
worshipping  in  a  large  number  of  Synagogues,  has  at  its 
head  the  Beth  Din  presided  over  by  the  Chief  Rabbi. 

There  are  not  many  holders  of  the  Rabbinical  Diploma 
in  England.  Thus  in  London  there  are  the  three  members 
of  the  Beth  Din,  who,  of  course,  hold  the  Rabbinical 
Diploma,  viz.,  the  Chief  Rabbi,  and  the  two  Dayyanim. 
There  are  also  the  Chakam  (Dr.  Gaster)  and  one  or  two  others. 
Dr.  Hermann  Gollancz,  of  the  Bayswater  Synagogue,  holds 
the  Rabbinical  Diploma,  but,  we  believe,  exercises  no 
independent  jurisdiction,  acting  simply  as  minister  of 
his  Synagogue.  The  Rabbinical  Diploma  [Hattarath 
Hora'a)  is  conferred  by  recognized  Rabbis  after  examin- 
ation, and  certifies  the  recipient's  learning  in  Rabbinical 
law,  and  confers  upon  him  the  right  to  pasken,  i.e.  to 
decide  disputes  according  to  Rabbinical  law.  In  Pales- 
tine, the  Rabbinical  succession  was  formerly  perpetuated 
by  ordination.  With  the  Synagogue  services  as  such 
the  Rabbi  has  nothing  to  do.  Of  course  he  can  and  often 
does  preach.  But  he  is  teacher  and  lawyer  rather  than 
minister  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  word. 

The  Synagogue  also  recognizes  the  cohanim,  or  Priests, 
and  the  Levites,  but  they  are  accorded  no  official  position, 
only  one  of  honour.  The  cohen's  presence  is  not  neces- 
sary (except  to  bestow  the  priestly  blessing,  which  is 
now  very  rarely  done,  and  if  at  all  only  on  festivals). 
But  it  is  the  rule  to  call  up  first  in  order  to  the  reading  of 
the  Law  a  priest  and  levite. 

The  official  who  is  necessary  for  the  service  is  known 
as  the  Chazzan  (lit.  "overseer")  who  recites  the  prayers 
and  reads  the  lessons.     He  is  the  Reader,  in  fact.     In  some 


314    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Synagogues  there  are  two — a  principal  and  an  assistant. 
In  the  larger  Synagogues,  too,  it  is  customary  to  divide 
the  offices  of  preacher  and  reader.  The  preacher  and 
principal  official  is  in  these  cases  called  the  minister,  and 
is  assisted  by  the  reader.  Both  preachers  and  readers 
are  dignified  by  the  title  Rev. ;  the  Chief  Rabbi  by  that  of 
Very  Rev.  In  German,  a  regular  Chazza?i  is  called  Vor- 
sanger  or  Vorbeter,  i.e.,  leader  in  song  or  prayer.  The 
term   "  cantor  "  is  also  sometimes  applied. 

The  professional  Chazzdn  is,  as  a  rule,  chosen  "  with 
a  view  to  a  good  voice,  musical  training,  and  thorough 
acquaintance  with  chants  and  accustomed  times  "  ;  "his 
shortcomings  in  morals  and  religion,"  says  a  Jewish 
writer,  "  being  too  often  overlooked."  In  progressive 
Synagogues  he  has  to  be  a  thoroughly  trained  vocalist. 
In  some  of  the  larger  Synagogues  the  Chazzdn  does  not 
read  the  lessons,  but  this  is  done  by  an  assistant  known 
as  the  Baal  Kore,  or  master-reader  (a  modern  title).  In 
this  case  vocal  and  musical  accomplishments  are  not 
necessary  as  the  required  cantillation  is  very  simple. 

The  prophetic  lesson  is  read,  in  the  modem  Synagogue, 
from  a  printed  book,  with  vowels  and  accents,  which  is 
laid  on  the  desk  [Shulchan).  Occasionally,  however,  a 
scroll  is  used — there  are  some  Synagogues  in  "  Poland 
and  elsewhere,  in  which  parchment  copies  of  the  Prophets 
are  kept  with  the  bare  letters,  like  the  scrolls  of  the  law" ' 
which  necessitates  that  the  prophetic  lesson  can  only  be 
read  by  one  of  the  permanent  officials. 

The  Chazzdn  reads  the  service  on  Sabbaths  and  holidays. 
At  the  week-day  daily  service,  when  a  minyan  is  present, 
this  is  often  done  by  one  of  the  congregation,  who  acts 
as  the  Sheliach  Tsibbur,  (i.e.  messenger  of  the  congrega- 
tion, cf.  the  Angel  of  the  Church  in  the  Book  of  Revelation). 
"  The  needful  qualifications  are  correct  Hebrew  reading, 
understanding  the  contents  of   the  Prayer-Book,  and  a 

^  Dembitz, 


LAY   OFFICIALS   OF  THE   SYNAGOGUE      315 

good  moral  and  religious  standing.  No  man  who  is  under 
excommunication  can  act  as  leader,  or  be  counted  of  the 
Ten."  ' 

The  lay  officials  of  the  Synagogue  are  : — 

The  Parnas  or  President,  and  the  Gabbai  or  Treasurer, 
who  are  the  two  wardens  of  the  Synagogue.  The  Presi- 
dent, Treasurers,  and  a  Council  of  Members  control  the 
affairs  of  the  Synagogue.  The  Parnas  presides  over  the 
meetings  of  the  Council,  and  as  a  rule  acts  as  Segan,  and 
allots  the  various  duties  or  mitzvoth  connected  with  the 
service.  In  most  Synagogues  there  is  a  pew  specially 
reserved  for  the  two  wardens,  known  as  the  Parnas  box. 
The  lay  officials  are  expected  to  stand  by  the  reader  on  the 
Bema  during  the  lessons.  The  presiding  officer  at  the 
desk  is  the  Segan.  As  a  rule  the  Parnas  or  Gabbai  acts 
as  Segan,  but  on  special  occasions  the  privilege  tempor- 
arily devolves  on  a  private  member,  e.g.  the  father  of  a 
Bar  Mitzvah,  or  of  a  bridegroom  at  the  Sabbath  when 
or  near  which  the  ceremonies  are  to  take  place.  In  this 
case  the  person  is  said  to  "  act  as  Segan." 

The  Parnas  commands  the  services  of  a  paid  official 
known  as  Shammash,  or  beadle — he  is  sexton,  beadle, 
and  usher  all  in  one. 

The  Synagogue  Services  [Sabbath  and  week-day). — There 
are  three  daily  services  in  the  Synagogue,  viz.,  Evening 
Prayer  (Maarib),  Morning  Prayer  {Shacharith)  and  After- 
noon Prayer  [Minchah).  On  Sabbaths,  New  Moons  and 
Festivals,  an  additional  prayer  [Musaf),  is  inserted  between 
Schacharith  and  Minchah,  and  on  the  Day  of  Atonement 
a  further  service  is  added  after  Minchah  called  Ne'ilah 
(concluding  service).  At  Maarib  and  Shacharith  the 
Shema  is  read,  while  the  great  prayer  known  as  Tefillah 
or  Amidah  is  common  to  all  services. 

It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  public  service, 
that  is  service  in  the  Synagogue,  can  only  be  held  when 

'  Dembitz. 


316    SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP 

ten  males,  of  fuU  religious  age,  are  present.  By  no  means 
all  Jews,  however,  attend  daily  service.  In  this  case  the 
prayers  are  read  at  home,  the  only  difference  being  that 
certain  important  prayers  like  Kaddish  and  the  parts  of 
the  service  involving  responses  are  omitted.  Practically 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  holding  the  daily  service  is 
to  enable  orphans  to  say  Kaddish,  and  to  make  up  the 
required  minyan  at  Synagogue  to  enable  them  to  do 
so  is  considered  a  pious  duty  [mitzvah).  The  custom 
of  praying  three  times  in  the  day,  though  not  mentioned 
in  the  Law,  is  Bibhcal.  There  is  the  passage  in  the 
fifty-fifth  Psalm  (which  perhaps  was  written  after  the 
institution  of  regular  prayer)  where  the  righteous  man 
declares  at  evening,  and  at  morning  and  at  noonday  will  I 
complain  and  moan,  and  he  shall  hear  my  voice  (Ps.  55^^). 
And  again  we  are  told  of  Daniel  that  he  continued  kneeling 
upon  his  knees  three  times  a  day  and  praying  and  giving 
thanks  before  his  God  (for  so  Dan.  6^°  should  be  rendered  ; 
see  Driver  ad  loc.)  In  both  these  cases,  however,  it  is 
private  prayer  that  is  meant.  In  the  Temple  services 
public  provision  was  (as  is  well  known)  made  for  the  three 
times  of  prayer.  But  it  is  a  mistake  as  Schiirer  [HJP 
Vol.  iii.,  p.  290  ff.)  has  pointed  out,  due  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  certain  passages  in  the  Acts  (2^^,  3^,  10^, ^,^'^) 
to  suppose  that  the  stated  hours  were  the  third,  sixth 
and  ninth  hours  (i.e.  our  9,  12  and  3  o'clock).  The  actual 
times  were  (i)  about  the  time  when  the  morning  burnt 
offering  was  offered  ;  (2)  in  the  afternoon  at  the  ninth 
hour  (3  o'clock)  when  the  evening  meal-offering  was 
offered ;  and  (3)  sunset.  A  full  description  of  these 
services  is  given  in  Schiirer,  ihid.,  p.  292  ff. 

In  the  modem  Synagogue  morning  and  afternoon 
prayer  are  considered  of  greater  obligation  than  evening 
prayer,  because  they  correspond  to  the  times  when  the 
daily  sacrifice  was  offered  in  the  Temple.  In  this  way 
the  words  of  the  prophet  Hosea  are  in  spirit  complied 
with  :    We  shall  render  as  bullocks  [the  offering  of)  our  lips 


"  MUSAF  "  317 

(Hos.  14^).  It  is  tolerably  well  known  that  morning 
prayer  in  the  Modern  Synagogue  is  held  at  a  very  early 
hour — in  some  of  the  small  chevras  as  early  as  6  a.m.  (in 
order  to  enable  the  poorer  Jewish  workmen  to  get  their 
prayers  over  before  the  working  day  begins).  In  the 
Great  Synagogue  Sabbath  morning  prayer  begins  at  8.30. 
The  Reform  Synagogue  stands  alone,  probably,  in  making 
the  hour  so  late  as  10.30.  The  reason  for  the  early  hour 
is  to  be  found  in  the  rule  that  the  Shema'  (which  must 
be  recited  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening)  must  be  said 
before  9  o'clock.  This  is  the  strict  rule  in  accordance  with 
the  precept  in  Deut.  6'  :  And  thou  shalt  impress  them 
upon  the  children,  and  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest 
in  thy  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when 
thou  liest  down,  and  luhen  thou  risest. 

When  thou  liest  down,  according  to  tradition  =  from 
early  starlight  to  midnight  ;  when  thou  risest  —  from  the 
light  of  the  dawn  till  9  o'clock.  But  in  practice  these 
limits  are  not  always  by  any  means  strictly  observed. 
Thus  Minchah  and  Maarih  are  usually  run  together,  and 
to  enable  this  to  be  done,  the  evening  service  is  often 
said  before  its  proper  time,  i.e.  before  starhght.  Some- 
times, however,  the  reverse  process  is  followed,  e.g.  on 
Friday  evening,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sabbath,  when 
Minchah  is  said  immediately  before  the  evening  service. 

The  additional  prayer  known  as  Musaf,  is  said  on  those 
days,  for  which  additional  offerings  are  prescribed  in  the 
Law.  In  most  places  it  immediately  follows  the  morning 
service  without  a  break,  e.g.  the  Sabbath  morning  service 
at  the  Great  and  other  Synagogues  in  London.  "  But 
in  many  synagogues  of  Austria  and  Hungary,  and  in 
Western  Asia  also,"  we  are  told,  "  the  true  morning  service 
for  the  Sabbath  is  held  at  a  very  ear^y  hour,  at  6  or  7 ;  the 
worshipper  then  goes  home,  takes  breakfast,  and  comes 
back  at  10  o'clock  for  the  'lessons,'  for  the  sermon,  and  for 
Musaf."  "  This,"  says  a  Jewish  writer,  "  is  correct,  for 
it  is  a  leading  Jewish  principle  that  whatever  duty  can  be 


318    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

performed  at  break  of  day  should  be  performed  before 
the  morning  meal,  and  before  any  business  or  pleasure  is 
entered  on  ;  and  this  principle  applies  most  strongly  to 
the  reading  of  the  Shema  '  when  thou  risest.'  "^ 

The  morning  service  on  weekdays  (except  Mondays 
and  Thursdays)  lasts  about  forty-five  minutes,  and  can 
be  said  in  that  time  without  undue  hurry  ;  on  new  moons 
(including  Musaf)  in  about  one  hour.  Sabbath  morning 
service  is  much  longer.  In  the  Great  Synagogue  it  lasts 
exactly  three  hours.  The  afternoon  service  on  week- 
days takes  about  ten  minutes,  the  evening  service  fifteen 
minutes. 

II.    The  Sacred  Year  and  Calendar. 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  links  that  connect  the 
modern  Jews  with  their  great  historic  past  is  their  sacred 
year  and  calendar.  This  has  been  maintained  intact 
(though  with  developments)  from  Biblical  times,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  calendar-system  which 
is  imphed  in  the  New  Testament  may  be  studied  in  the 
life,  as  it  were,  in  the  social  organization  and  worship  of 
the  modem  Jews. 

i.  The  Arrangement  of  the  Calendar. 

The  elements  of  the  calendar  are,  of  course,  the  day, 
the  month  and  the  year.  The  day  is  reckoned  from  even- 
ing to  evening,  and  begins  when  (on  a  clear  night)  three 
stars  are  visible,  which  is  supposed  to  be  twenty-five 
minutes  after  sunset.  This  is  technically  known  as  "  the 
coming  forth  of  the  stars." 

It  is  worth  remarking  that  this  division  of  the  day  is 
guaranteed  by  the  first  chapter  of  the  Bible.  In  the  enu- 
meration of  the  days  of  Creation  evening  comes  first  :  And 
there  was  evening  and  there  was  morning  one  day  (Gen.  i  ^.). 
Accordingly,  the  day  is  divided  into  evening,  morning,  and 
afternoon,  for  each  of  which,  as  has  been  pointed  out  above, 

»  Dembitz. 


DESIGNATION   OF   WEEK-DAYS  319 

an  appropriate  service  of  prayer  is  provided.  The  week 
is,  of  course,  identical  with  the  our  own,  consisting  of  seven 
days,  Saturday  being  the  seventh.  But  the  Jews  have 
no  special  names  for  the  days  of  the  week  except  for  the 
seventh  which  is  called  the  Sabbath,  or  Day  of  the  Sabbath 
(i.e.  "  Day  of  Rest  ").  The  only  distinctive  Jewish  mode 
of  distinguishing  them  is  by  numbers  {first,  second,  third 
day  of  the  week,  etc.),  a  method  of  reckoning  which  is 
familiar  to  us  through  the  New  Testament  (cf.  e.g. 
St.  John  20^^).  It  is  worth  noting,  however,  that  in 
post-Bibhcal  Hebrew  the  sixth  day  (Friday)  is  termed 
Eve  of  the  Sabbath  {'Ereb  shabbdth)  or  the  coming  in  of 
the  Sabbath.  It  is  interesting  also  to  notice  that 
the  Hebrew  word  for  Eve  {'ereb)  or  rather  its  Aramaic 
equivalent  {'drubtd)  came  to  be  the  technical  designation 
of  Friday  ;  and  in  exactly  the  same  way  the  Greek 
equivalent  Trapaa-Kevy'i  ("=  Preparation  "  viz.,  for  the 
Sabbath)  came  to  be  the  regular  name  for  Friday,  and  is 
still  so  among  the  Greeks.  According  to  St.  John  (19^*) 
it  was  on  Preparation-day  that  the  crucifixion  took  place, 
and  according  to  unbroken  Christian  tradition  that  day 
has  been  fixed  as  Friday,  or,  as  we  call  it,  "  Good  Friday." 
The  evening  following  Sabbath  is  known  as  the  going  out 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  similarly  the  day  preceding  a  festival 
and  the  evening  following  it  are  called  Eve  of  the  Festival 
and  The  Departure  of  the  Festival. 

The  Jewish  month  is  lunar,  beginning  with  the  new 
moon.  The  moment  at  which  it  commences  is  technically 
termed  its  molad  or  "  birth,"  which  is  noted  in  every 
Jewish  calendar  for  each  month.  Its  length  strictly  should 
be  29  days  12  hours  44  minutes  and  3^  seconds.  But  for 
practical  purposes  this  is  adjusted  by  making  the  months  29 
and  30  days  in  length  alternately.  Since,  however,  twelve 
such  months  only  make  a  total  of  354^  days,  while  the 
solar  year  contains  365^:  da3^s,  a  further  adjustment  was 
rendered  necessary  to  prevent  the  seasons  getting  wrong. 
The  difficulty  is  met  by  adding  an  extra  month. — the  second 


320    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Adar — to  certain  years  which  are  called  "  leap  years." 
In  a  cycle  of  nineteen  years  ("  the  Metonic  cycle  ")  the 
difference  as  compared  with  the  corresponding  solar  years 
would  amount  to  seven  months.  Hence  in  every  such 
cycle  it  is  necessary  to  have  seven  "  leap  years,"  viz. 
the  third,  sixth,  eighth,  eleventh,  fourteenth,  seventeenth 
and  nineteenth. 

The  fixing  of  the  molad  of  the  month  and  the  determina- 
tion of  the  length  of  any  given  year  is  now  made  exactly  by 
astronomical  calculations  and  published  through  the  Jewish 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  But  formerly  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  new  moon  and  the  making  of  a  "  pregnant  " 
year  (i.e.  the  addition  of  the  thirteenth  month)  was  the 
prerogative  of  the  Sanhedrin  and  the  Patriarch,  and  was 
regarded  by  them  "  as  the  highest  mark  of  their  sovereignty 
in  Israel."  ^  When  the  day  of  the  new  moon  had  been 
fixed  by  observation  the  Sanhedrin  proclaimed  its  decision, 
and  this  was  conveyed  by  signals  and  messengers  to  Jewish 
congregations  within  reach. 

There  were,  however,  congregations  in  distant  parts 
which  could  not  be  reached  in  this  way  in  time.  As  the 
incidence  of  the  festivals  depended  on  the  dates  of  the 
months,  this  created  a  difficulty  which  was  solved  by  the 
congregations  outside  of  Palestine  observing  two  days  as 
Holy  Days  instead  of  one.^  Thus  the  New  Year  {Rosh 
ha-shdndh)  is  kept  two  days  (Tisri  i  and  2)  instead  of  one. 
The  one  exception  was  the  Day  of  Atonement  (Tisri  10) 
which  had  no  additional  day  "  because  the  people  were 
unable  to  abstain  from  food  two  whole  days."  This 
observance  of  an  additional  day  is  really  only  a  pious 
custom  [minhag)  which  has  ceased  to  have  any  meaning 
now  that  the  calendar  is  accurately  fixed  beforehand  by 
astronomical  calculation.     But  the  custom  having  become 


1  Dembitz. 

2  The  possible  variation  for  the  beginning  of  a  new  month  was 
limited  to  two  days.  The  new  moon  might  in  some  cases  be  seen 
a  few  hours  earlier  in  one  place  than  in  another. 


NAMES   OF   THE   MONTHS 


321 


practically  universal,  it  is  held  in  orthodox  Jewish  circles 
that  it  can  only  be  abolished  by  a  properly  constituted 
Sanhedrin  whose  authority  shall  be  recognized  by  the 
whole  Jewish  people.  "  Reformers,  however,"  we  are 
told,  "  keep  only  one  day,  and  this  example  is  being 
largely  followed." 

Before  the  Babylonian  Exile  the  months  had  Jewish 
names  of  which  only  four  have  survived,  viz.,  the  months 
numbered  i,  2,  7  and  8  in  the  table  below  (i,  Abib  =  Nisan, 
2,  Ziv  =  Iyar,  7,  Ethanim  =  Tisri,  and  8,  Bul  =  Cheshvan). 

In  the  Bible  they  are  usually  indicated  by  numbers 
{first,  second  month,  etc.)  ;  but  after  the  exile  the  Baby- 
lonian names  were  introduced,  and  are  still  in  use  among 
the  Jews.     These  are  : — 


^ame  of  Month.     Corresponds  roughly  to               Duration. 

I.  Nisan          =           April 

.     30  days. 

2.  lyar             =           May 

.     29 

3.  Sivan          =           June 

.     30       ,. 

4.  Tammuz     =           July 

.      29 

5.  Ab               =           August   . 

.      30       „ 

6.  Elul             =           September 

.     29 

7.  Tisri            =           October  . 

•      30 

8.  Cheshvan   =           November 

29  or  30  days 

9.  Kislev         =           December 

.      30  or  29 

10.  Tebeth        =           January  , 

.      29  days 

II.  Shebat        =           February 

.      30       .. 

12.  Adar           =           March     . 

29  (in  leap  year 

30). 

And  in  leap  year 

13.  Adar    Sheni 

( =  Second  Adar) 

29  days 

Thus  an  ordinary  year  cannot  be  less  than  353  or  more 
than  355  days  ;  and  a  "  leap  year  "  cannot  be  less  than 
383  or  more  than  385  days. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  order  of  the  months  just 


•  Jewish  Year  Book.  It  still  remains  true,  however,  that  owing 
to  the  wide  dispersion  of  the  Jews  a  simultaneous  observance  of 
a  festival  for  twenty-four  hours  can  only  be  secured  (owing  to 
the  difference  of  time  and  longitude)  by  adhering  to  the  two-day 
rule. 


322    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

enumerated  makes  Nisan  the  first  month,  i.e.  makes  the 
year  begin  with  spring.  Now  this  is  the  beginning  of  the 
sacred  year  according  to  the  Pentateuch  ;  and  on  this 
arrangement  of  the  year  the  cycle  of  sacred  festivals  is 
based.  But  there  is  another  reckoning  of  the  year  which 
in  post-exilic  times  we  find  existing  side  by  side  with  the 
above.  According  to  this  the  year  begins  with  Tisri 
(i.e.  the  seventh  month  of  the  Pentateuch-reckoning). 
This  marked  the  beginning  of  the  secular  or  civil  year, 
and  is  the  year  of  the  modern  Jews. 

Prof.  Schiirer  (a  very  high  authority  on  these  matters) 
thinks  that  beginning  the  year  with  Tisri  was  the  more 
ancient  practice.  There  is  some  support  for  this  view 
in  a  statement  of  Josephus  who  says  the  beginning  of  the 
year  with  Nisan,  as  ordained  by  Moses,  holds  good  with 
reference  only  to  sacred  things  ;  whereas,  on  the  other 
hand,  "  for  buying  and  selling  and  other  business " 
the  year  commences  with  Tisri  according  to  the  more 
ancient   pre-mosaic  ordinance.^ 

The  two  systems  as  they  formerly  existed  side  by  side 
may  be  compared  to  our  own  ecclesiastical  and  secular 
year,  the  former  beginning  with  Advent,  the  latter  with 
January.  But  since  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  the 
Mosaic  sacred  year  has  largely  ceased  to  have  any  practical 
importance,  and  what  was  formerly  the  secular  year 
only  has  been  accepted  as  the  basis  of  its  sacred  year  by 
the  Synagogue.  The  Jewish  New  Year,  then  {Rosh  ha- 
shdndh)  2  begins  with  the  first  of  Tisri. 

The  arrangement  of  the  Jewish  Year  is  determined  by 
certain  rules,  the  most  important  of  which  are  that  the 
Day  of  Atonement  must  not  fall  either  immediately  before 
or  immediately  after  the  Sabbath  (on  account  of  the 

1  Schiirer  H]P,  i,  38. 

2  One  of  the  names  for  this  festival  is  the  "  Feast  of  Trumpets." 
The  Jewish  year  corresponding  to  1906-7  (viz.  5667  according  to 
the  era  of  Creation)  began  on  Tisri  i  =  September  20,  1 906  and 
ended  Elul  29  =  September  8,   1907. 


THE   CALENDAR   RULES  323 

inconvenience  involved  in  preparing  for  the  Sabbath  or 
the  Fast).  If,  therefore,  in  accordance  with  this  rule, 
Tisri  10  (i.e.  the  Day  of  Atonement)  cannot  occur  on  a 
Friday  or  a  Sunday,  Tisri  i  cannot  occur  on  a  Wednesday 
or  a  Friday.  Further,  in  order  to  prevent  the  old  national 
holiday  Hosha'na  Rabba  (falls  on  Tisri  21)  from  occurring 
upon  the  Sabbath,  Tisri  i  cannot  fall  upon  a  Sunday,  that 
is  to  say ,  it  cannot  occur  on  Sunday,  Wednesday  or  Friday. 

Another  complication  is  brought  about  by  the  molad. 
The  Jewish  Day  formally  begins  six  hours  before  mid- 
night. If,  therefore,  the  molad  or  new  moon  "  occurs 
after  midday  but  before  two  o'clock,  it  cannot  become 
visible  till  the  next  day,  which  has,  therefore,  to  be 
reckoned  as  the  day  of  the  new  moon."  Thus  "  if,  by 
calculation,  the  molad  should  strike  Saturday  afternoon, 
the  first  of  Tisri  must  be  put  off  to  Sunday,  and,  this  being 
disallowed,  further  on  to  Monday."  ^  The  adjustment  so 
necessitated  is  made  at  the  end  of  the  months  Cheshvan 
and  Kislev  for  the  preceding  year. 

The  first  of  every  Jewish  month  [Rosh  Chodesh  =  "  Head 
of  the  Month  ")  is  kept  as  a  half-holiday.  It  is  identical 
with  the  "  new  moon  "  of  the  Bible.  When  the  preceding 
month  has  thirty  days  the  thirtieth  day  is  kept  as  Rosh 
Chodesh  as  well.  Thus  lyar  has  two  days  of  Rosh  Chodesh, 
viz.  Nisan  30  and  lyar  i,  while  Nisan  itself  has  only  one 
(Nisan  i). 

ii.  The  Dates  of  the  Festivals  and  Fasts. 

We  have  first  of  all  (a)  "  The  Solemn  Days,"  viz.,  New 
Year  and  Day  of  Atonement. 

1.  New  Year  {Rosh  ha-hashanah)  first  day  —  Tisri  i  ; 
second  day  =  Tisri  2. 

2.  Day  of  Atonement  {Y6?n  Kippiir  =:  Tisri  10). 
The  first  ten  days  of  the  New  Year  (Tisri  i-io)  form  a 

penitential  period  something  like  our  Advent,  and  are 
known  as  "  the  ten  days  of  penitence." 

*  Jewish  Year  Book. 


324     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

(b)  The  Three  Festivals,  viz.,  Feast  of  Tabernacles, 
Passover  and  Feast  of  Weeks. 

1.  Feast  of  Tabernacles  {Sukkoth)  first  day  =rTisri  15  ; 

second  day  =:Tisri  16 ; 

„  ,,  third  to  seventh  days, 

middle  days  of 
the  Festival  (half- 
hoKdays)  ; 

,,  „  seventh  day  =  Hosha- 

'na    Rabba,  Tisri 
21  ; 
„  eighth  day  =  shemini 

'Atseret     (Eighth 
Day       Festival), 
Tisri  22  ; 
„  ninth  day  =  Simchath 

Tor  ah  (Rejoicing 
of  the  Law),  Tisri 

23- 
[Total  nine  days.] 

2.  Passover  (Pesach^Gk.Traa-^a)  first  day  =  Nisan  15; 

second  day  =  Nisan  16 
seventh  day  =  Nisan 

21  ; 

eighth    day=Nisan 

22  ^ 

3.  Feast    of    Weeks    [Shabuoth  =  weeks)  first  day  = 

Sivan  6  ; 
second  day  = 
Sivan  7. 
[The  "  Feast  of  Weeks  "  is  so  called  because  it  marks 
the  completion  of  a  week  of  weeks    (i.e.  seven  weeks  or 

1  Note  that  the  commencing  and  concluding  days  which  are 
full  holy  days,  are  doubled  here  as  elsewhere,  in  accordance  with 
the  rule  explained  above.  The  Biblical  first  day  now  becomes 
two  (Nisan  1 5  and  1 6)  :  and  the  Biblical  seventh  day  Hkewise 
two  (Nisan  21  and  22), 


THE   HISTORICAL   FEASTS  325 

49  days)  from  the  second  day  of  Passover  when  the 
"  omer  "  of  new  corn  was  offered.  The  days  of  this 
interval  are  counted  as  they  proceed,  and  this  is  known 
as  the  "  Counting  of  the  Omer."  The  fact  that  the 
fiftieth  day  marks  the  incidence  of  the  Festival  is  the 
explanation  of  its  Greek  name  Pentecost  (  =  Fiftieth  sc. 
day).     It  corresponds,  of  course,  to  our  Whitsuntide.] 

(c)  The  Historical  Feasts.  Besides  the  above  there  are 
two  feasts  commemorating  events  in  the  later  history 
of  the  Jewish  people,  viz.,  Chanukkdh  or  Dedication, 
which  is  celebrated  in  memory  of  the  re-dedication  of  the 
Temple,  after  a  period  of  defilement,  by  Judas  Maccabseus, 
in  164  B.C.  (cf.  I  Maccabees)  ;  and  PMnw,  commemorating 
events  related  in  the  Book  of  Esther. 

I  Chanukkah  ^  lasts  eight  days  : 

first  day  =  Kislev  25  ; 
eighth  day  =  Tebeth  2. 
[It  often  falls  about  Christmas-time.] 
2.  Purim  (:=  ?   Lots)  lasts  one  day,  viz.,  Adar  14. 
It  is  the  carnival  of  modem  Jewry. 

[d]  The  Four  Fasts  (commemorating  events  connected 
with  the  fall  of  Jerusalem)  :    viz. — 

1.  Tebeth    10    commemorates    the    beginning    of    the 

siege  of  Jerusalem. 

2.  Tammuz    17    commemorates   the   breach    made   in 

the  wall. 

3.  Ab    9    the    destruction    of    the    First    and    Second 

Temples  (traditionally  supposed  to  have  taken 
place  on  the  same  day  of  the  month).  This  is 
known,  as  the  "  Black  Fast  "  in  contradistinction 
from  the  "  White  Fast,"  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

4.  Tisri  3,  the  Fast  of  Gedaliah  (the  Jewish  Viceroy 

left  by  Nebuchadnezzar  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  who  was  murdered,  cf.  Jer.  41). 


1  Chanukkah  =  Dedication,  to.  iyKaivui  of  St.  John  lo'''  Vulg. : 
Encaenium :  It  was  called  also  The  Feast  of  Light. 


326    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

All  these  fasts  begin  at  daybreak,  except  that  of  Ab  9, 
which  (hke  the  Day  of  Atonement)  begins  the  previous 
evening  and  lasts  twenty-four  hours.  All  four  fasts  are 
alluded  to  in  Zech.  8^^. 

(e)  Other  (minor)  fasts  are  : — 

1.  Fast  of  Esther  =  Adar  13  (before  Purim). 

2.  Fast  of  the  Firstborn  =rNisan  14  (before  Passover). 
Note. — It  should  be  added  that  Passover  must  always  be 

celebrated  on  the  first  full  moon  after  the  vernal  equinox. 
Hence  the  canon  of  the  Council  of  Nicasa  fixing  Easter 
on  the  Sunday  following  the  first  full  moon  after  the  spring 
equinox.  And  so  our  own  Prayer-Book,  which  sets 
forth  that  "  Easter  Day  ...  is  always  the  first  Sunday 
after  the  full  moon  which  happens  upon,  or  next  after 
the  twenty-first  day  of  March  "  (i.e.  the  spring  equinox). 

III.  The  Jewish  Era. 

A  word  must  be  said  in  conclusion  about  the  Jewish 
Era.  In  the  Books  of  Maccabees  all  dates  are  fixed  by 
the  Seleucid  Era  (begins  312  B.C.).  This  continued  in  use 
till  about  the  tenth  century  a.d.,  and  was  commonly 
employed  for  dating  documents  for  legal  purposes.  Hence 
it  is  known  as  the  "  era  of  contracts."  Curiously  enough 
it  survives  among  the  Jews  of  Yemen  (South  Arabia)  to 
this  day.  But  since  the  tenth  century  the  great  mass 
of  Jews  has  used  the  Era  of  Creation  (A.M.=annomundi) 
which  they  fix  as  beginning  3760  B.C.,  disagreeing 
with  Ussher's  reckoning  which  dates  it  4004  B.C. 

Thus  the  year  1907  according  to  this  notation,  is  3760 
+  1907=5667.  In  printed  Hebrew  Books,  etc.,  this  is 
usually  shortened  to  667  simply.'  The  Christian  Era 
is  generally  indicated  in  Jewish  circles  by  the  letters 
c.E.  i.e.  "  common  era."  ^ 


1  In  Hebrew  letters  667  appears  as  T  VMl  ;  D  =  400.  1  =  200, 
D  =  6o,  and  T  =  7- 

a  A  full  and  detailed  Calendar  is  printed  each  year  in  The  Jewish 
Year  Book  (London,  Greenberg  &  Co.). 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


THE   PRAYER-BOOK. 


The  General  Character  of  the  Prayers— Influence  of  Sacrificial  Worship 
of  the  Temple  on  the  Synagogue  Liturgy — The  Benedictions  and 
the  "  Eighteen  Blessings  " — The  Shema'  with  its  Benedictions — 
Kaddish  and  Prayers  for  the  Dead— Arrangement  of  the  Prayers 
generally. 

The  Synagogue  Liturgy  is  all  important  as  revealing  the 
inner  side  of  the  legalistic  system  of  theology  on  which 
orthodox  Judaism  is  based.  It  reflects  the  popular 
piety  and  devotion.  As  one  of  the  present  writers 
has  said  elsewhere,  "  it  was  the  piety  of  men  who  clung 
tenaciously  to  the  Law  as  the  final  and  supreme  expression 
of  a  divine  revelation,  but  the  piety  was  none  the  less 
true  and  deep.  It  could  enlist  in  its  service  all  the 
affections  and  the  passionate  devotion  of  large-hearted 
and  profoundly  religious  natures.  As  expressed  in 
its  Prayer-Book  the  legahstic  piety  of  orthodox  Judaism 
affords  one  more  example  of  the  religious  genius  of  a 
people  uniquely  distinguished  in  the  domain  of  religion." 
A  few  introductory  notes  on  the  general  character 
of  the  prayers  of  the  Synagogue  Liturgy  (with  some  illus- 
trations) and  on  the  arrangement  of  these  prayers  in  the 
regular  services  is  all  that  can  be  attempted  here.  It 
is  hoped  that  this  will  suffice  to  enable  the  reader  to  begin 
the  study  of  the  Jewish  Liturgy  for  himself  intelligently. 

I.  The  General  Character  of  the  Prayers. 
One  of  the  most  striking  features  about  the  Synagogue 
prayers   in    general    is    their   scriptural   character.      Not 
only  are  whole  psalms,  other  passages,  and  single  verses 

»  To  the  literature  cited  in  Part  i,  Chap,  v,  add  here  the  art. 
Liturgy  in  JE,  viii,  132  ;    an  essay  by  G.  H.  Box   The  Spiritual 
Teaching  and    Value  of  the  Jewish  Prayer-Buok  (Longmans,   1906). 
Zunz  (Gottesdiensiliche  Vorirdge)  is  the  principal  authority. 
327 


328    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

used,  but  the  material  of  those  prayers  which  are  not 
directly  scriptural  citations  is  largely  drawn  from  the 
sacred  writings.  Sometimes  it  is  a  striking  allusion 
to  some  point  in  Scripture  that  we  meet  with,  or  it 
may  be  an  adaptation  of  a  scriptural  sentence,  as  when, 
for  instance,  the  promise  :  /  will  restore  thy  judges  as  at 
the  first,  and  thy  counsellors  as  at  the  beginning  (Isa.  i^^ 
becomes  a  petition  :  Restore  our  judges  as  at  the  first,  etc.) 

Another  noticeable  feature  about  the  prayers  is  their 
congregational  character.  In  this  respect,  of  course, 
the  Jewish  Prayer-Book  conforms  to  the  standard  recog- 
nized by  all  the  great  authorized  Hturgical  compilations 
— our  own  Book  of  Common  Prayer  being  a  signal 
example.  Throughout  the  Hebrew  Prayer-Book  ^  the 
petitions  and  other  forms  are  couched  in  the  plural 
number,  and  the  first  person  plural  that  so  constantly 
occurs  includes  all  Israel. 

In  this  connexion  it  should  be  noted  that  the  only 
proper  name  recognized  in  the  liturgy  for  the  Jewish 
people  is  the  sacred  name  of  Israel.^  "  Israel,"  or 
"  The  House  "  or  "  People  of  Israel,"  or  "God's  People  " 
are  spoken  of  ;  never  "  Jews."  The  names  "  Jerusalem  " 
and  "  Zion,"  also,  always  refer  to  the  places  so  called. 

The  Divine  names  employed  in  the  earlier  compositions 
are  those  of  the  Bible.  In  later  Rabbinical  forms,  how- 
ever, periphrastic  designations  are  common,  the  most 
frequent  being  "  The  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He."  The 
mysterious  designation  of  God  as  "The  Place"  (Heb. 
ha-mdkom)  is  also  met  with.    This  is  sometimes  rendered 

1  In  the  eleventh  clause  of  the  so-called  "  Eighteen  Blessings  " 
(Shemoneh  'Esreh)  or  Aniidah-Prayer  (for  which  see  below)  in 
Singer  p.  48. 

2  With  a  few  exceptions,  which  however  only  include  prayers 
or  formulas  to  be  recited  privately  :  cf.,  e.g.,  Singer,  p.  1 14  (before 
putting  on  the  Talith). 

*  Israel,  oi  course,  is  the  sacred  name  given  by  God  to  Jacob  ; 
cf.  Gen.  32^*  ;  351"  ;  as  such  it  is  often  applied  in  Scripture  to 
the  chosen  people  as  the  people  of  God. 


THE   SYNAGOGUE   PRAYERS  329 

"  The  Omnipresent,"  but  its  real  explanation  is  quite 
uncertain.  Other  forms  of  address  found  are  :  "  Our 
Father,  Our  King  "  ;    and  "  The  Merciful."  ^ 

The  great  personal  name  of  God  {^\^7^')  which  is  familiar 
to  us  as  "  Jehovah  "  is  now  never  pronounced  by  the 
Jews.  Instead  they  substitute  the  word  "  Lord" (A donai) 
or  in  some  cases  "  God  "  {Elohim).  In  the  time  of  the 
Temple  "  the  ineffable  name  "  (tt^-ISDH  Ut)  was  uttered 
by  the  High  Priest  in  the  services  of  the  Day  of  Atonement, 
and  also  occasionally  by  the  ordinary  priests  in  the 
formula  of  the  Priestly  Blessing  (Numb.  624-26).  But 
with  these  exceptions  the  pronunciation  of  the  name 
even  then  was  regarded  as  impious,  and  was  ultimately 
discountenanced  altogether  owing,  in  all  probability,  to 
its  superstitious  employment  in  working  miracles. 

It  should  be  added  that  all  the  prayers  are  written 
and  chanted  in  the  sacred  tongue,  i.e.  Hebrew,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  which  are  written  in  the  cognate 
Aramaic  dialect.  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  in  some 
cases  the  same  formula  appears  in  both  Hebrew  and 
Aramaic.  An  example  can  be  seen  in  Singer,  p.  73 
(bottom)  and  p.  74  (top).  Of  course  Hebrew  has  for 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ceased  to  be  a  living 
language  among  the  Jews.  In  the  time  of  our  Lord, 
Aramaic  was  the  popular  language  among  the  Jews  of 
Palestine,  and  continued  still  so  to  be  for  some  centuries 
later  ;  and  this  was  true  also  of  the  Jews  in  Babylonia. 
When  our  Lord  spoke  in  the  synagogue  and  expounded 
the  Scriptures,  He  used  the  Aramaic  language.  In  fact 
it  was,  as  is  well  known,  the  regular  practice  for  the 
Scriptures  to  be  read  in  Hebrew,  and  translated  by  a 
methurgemdn,  or  interpreter,  verse  by  verse,  or  paragraph 
by    paragraph,    into    the  Aramaic  vernacular.     Outside 


1  From  this  last  Mohammed  may  have  derived  the  epithet 
which  so  constantly  recurs  in  the  Koran  ;  e.g.,  in  the  formula  i 
In  the  name  of  God,  the  compassionate,  the  merciful. 


330    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

of  Palestine  among  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion  in  Greek- 
speaking  countries  the  case  was  different.  There  Greek 
was  largely,  if  not  exclusively,  used.  It  seems  that  not 
only  the  Scriptures,  but  also  the  most  important  parts 
(if  not  all)  of  the  Liturgy — such  as  the  Shema'  and  the 
Shemoneh  'Esreh — were  regularly  recited  in  the  Hellen- 
istic synagogues  in  Greek,  and  not  in  Hebrew  at  all.^ 
And  even  in  the  Mishnah  sanction  is  given  to  the  use 
of  any  language  whatever  in  repeating  the  Shema',  the 
Shemoneh  'Esreh,  and  the  grace  at  meals. ^  Still  the 
paramount  importance  of  Hebrew  was  always  insisted 
on  by  the  Rabbis,  and  according  to  Rabbinical  law 
every  father  was  bound  to  teach  his  child  Hebrew  as 
soon  as  it  began  to  speak. ^  In  later  practice  Hebrew 
has  been  the  only  language  recognized  as  legitimate  for 
prayer  and  worship. 

II.  Influence  of  the  Sacrificial  Worship  of  the 
Temple  on  the  Synagogue  Liturgy. 

Regarding  the  structure  of  the  Hturgical  forms  it  is 
important  to  remember  that  this  has  been  fundamentally 
influenced  by  the  sacrificial  worship  of  the  Temple. 

Long  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the 
consequent  cessation  of  the  sacrificial  system,  the  syna- 
gogue had  come  into  existence,  and  firmly  established 
itself  wherever  Jewish  communities  flourished.  It  met 
a  widespread  religious  need,  owing  to  the  centralization 
of  the  sacrificial  worship  in  Jerusalem.  While  only  a 
limited  number  of  Jews  could  be  present  at  any  one 
time  in  the  central  sanctuary,  and  assist  in  the  offering 
of  the  sacrifice,  no  such  disability  would  apply  to  the 
services  of  the  Synagogue.  To  a  certain  though  limited 
extent,  indeed,  the  Synagogue  was  affiliated  to  the  Temple 
worship.     It  will  be  remembered  that  for  purposes  of 


1  Cf.  HJP,  iv,  283  ff ;  also  iii.  p.   10. 

»   Sofa,  vii,   I   (exceptions,  2). 

»  Toseft.  Chaf^.  begin.  ;    cf.  B.   Sukkah  42' 


ATTITUDE   TOWARDS   SACRIFICE         331 

the  daily  sacrificial  worship,  not  only  the  priests  and 
Levites,  but  also  the  lay  Israehtes  generally  were  divided 
into  twenty-four  courses  of  service,  each  of  which  had 
to  take  its  turn  in  coming  before  God  (in  the  Temple) 
every  day  for  a  whole  week,  by  way  of  representing  the 
whole  body  of  the  people,  while  the  daily  sacrifice  was 
being  offered  to  Jehovah.^  But  it  appears  that  not  the 
whole  division  of  Israelites  on  duty,  but  only  a  deputation 
from  it,  was  actually  present  at  any  given  time  in  the 
Temple  ;  the  others,  who  had  been  left  behind,  assembled 
in  the  local  synagogues  (at  the  time  when  the  sacrifice 
was  actually  offered  in  the  Temple)  and  engaged  in  prayer 
and  the  reading  of  Scripture.     (See  Taanith  iv,  2.) 

Still  the  Synagogue  was  essentially  independent  of 
the  priesthood  and  the  sacrificial  cult,  and  was  entirely 
free  from  the  limitations  applying  to  a  centrahzed 
worship,  and  a  sacerdotal  system.  Hence,  when  the 
latter  disappeared  in  the  great  catastrophe  of  70  A.D., 
the  Synagogue  was  the  one  institution  exactly  fitted  to 
be  the  instrument  for  the  reconstruction  of  Judaism. 

The  Synagogue  now  became  not  merely  supplementary 
to  the  Temple  worship,  but  took  its  place.  And  this 
fact  has  profoundly  influenced  not  merely  the  structure 
of  its  Liturgy,  but  also  the  form  and  substance  of  its 
prayers.  The  question  is  often  asked,  What  is  the  modern 
Jewish  attitude  towards  sacrifice  ?  If  the  sacrificial  system 
was  necessary  in  order  to  maintain  communion  with  God, 
how  can  the  Jews  reconcile  themselves  to  their  present 
religious  condition — which  has  lasted  now  for  more  than 
eighteen  centuries — without  priest,  altar,  or  sacrifice  ? 

The  Jewish  answers  to  this  question  are,  perhaps, 
not  quite  consistent.  On  the  one  hand  the  Rabbis 
taught  that  "  charity  or  repentance  was  an  accepted 
substitute  or  equivalent  for  sacrifice."  The  following 
quotation  will  illustrate  the  Rabbinical  view  : — At  this 

»  HJP,  iii.  275  f. 


332    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

time,  when  there  is  no  temple,  and  we  have  no  altar,  there 
is  no  atonement  but  repentance.  Repentance  atones  for 
all  transgressions,  yea,  though  a  man  he  wicked  all  his  days, 
and  repent  at  last,  none  of  his  wickedness  is  mentioned 
to  him,  for  it  is  said  :  As  for  the  wickedness  of  the 

WICKED  HE  SHALL  NOT  FALL  THEREBY,  IN  THE  DAY  THAT 
HE     TURNETH      FROM      HIS     WICKEDNESS.        (Ezck.    33^"^).' 

On  the  other  hand,  the  traditional  Liturgy  provides  a 
sort  of  paraboHc  and  metaphorical  fulfilment  of  sacrifice 
in  the  following  ways  : — 

(i).  By  providing  forms  of  prayer  for  daily  worship 
which  correspond  to  the  original  daily  sacrifice. 
One  of  these — the  afternoon  service — actually 
bears  the  name  of  the  original  offering  {minchdh). 
In  accordance  with  this  principle  those  days 
which  were  originally  provided  with  additional 
sacrifices  (Sabbaths,  new  moons,  and  festivals) 
are  now  provided  with  additional  forms  of  prayer 
(musaf  =  additional) . 
(2).  Special  sections  from  the  Law  and  the  Mishnah 
which  contain  the  original  enactments  about  the 
daily  and  Sabbath  offerings,  are  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  service  (cf.  Singer,  p.  9  ff.). 
And  on  high  days  and  festivals  it  is  the  rule  to 
supplement  the  Pentateuch  lesson  by  the  paragraph 
from  the  Law  which  enumerates  the  sacrifices 
enacted  for  the  day.  For  instance,  during  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  the  paragraph  Num.  29^'^'^^ 
is  read  in  addition,  from  a  second  scroll.  The 
principle  underlying  all  this  is  stated  in  a  Haggadic 
passage  in  the  Talmud.  Abraham  is  there  repre- 
sented "  to  have  anxiously  asked  God  how  the 
sins  of  Israel  would  be  forgiven  when  their  temple 
was  destroyed,   and  they  should  have  no  place 

'  Maimonides   (Rambam),    Hilkoth  Teshnbah,  ch.  i,  §  3  (cited 
in  McCaul,  Old  Paths,  p.   386). 


THE    "EIGHTEEN    BLESSINGS"  333 

where  to  bring  their  sacrifices,  and  he  was  told 

that  to  read  the  duty  of  these  sacrifices  from  the 

Tor  ah  would  be  accepted  as  a  full  equivalent."  ^ 

(3).  Various  prayers  have  been  inserted  in  the  Liturgy 

which   breathe   the   hope   and   supplication   that 

the  Temple  service  may  be  restored.     In  some 

cases  an  older  prayer  has  been  amplified  in  this 

sense.     It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  if  even 

the  exile  could  be  brought  to  an  end,  and  the 

Jewish  race  were  once  more  gathered  into  Palestine, 

with  full  control  of  the  land,  the  Temple  and  its 

sacrificial  worship  would  be  resumed.     According 

to  so  orthodox  a  Jewish  writer  as  Dr.  Friedlander  ^ 

such  a  revival  could  only  take  place  even  then 

if  "sanctioned  by  the  divine  voice  of  a  prophet." 

Judaism  may,  therefore,  with  justice,  be  said  almost 

completely    to    have    spiritualized    the    sacrificial    idea. 

The  daily  offering  of  prayer,  praise,   and  thanksgiving 

morning  and  afternoon  in  the   synagogue   is   a   spiritual 

counterpart  and   fulfilment  of  the  old  daily  sacrifice  in 

the  Temple.     In    this   way  the  words  of  the    prophet 

Hosea  are  in  spirit  fulfilled  :   We  shall  render  as  bullocks 

{the  offering  of)  our  lips  (Hos.  142). 

III.    The   Benedictions   and  the   "  Eighteen 
Blessings." 

Nothing  is  more  striking  in  the  Jewish  Liturgy  than 
the  regular  recurrence  of  formulas  of  Blessing  or  Bene- 
diction (Heb.  herakah).  These  regularly  accompany  the 
performance  of  religious  duties  positively  enjoined  in  the 
Law  (e.g.,  the  binding  on  of  the  phylacteries),  and  also 
play  an  important  part  in  the  liturgy  itself. 

In  its  simplest  form  the  Blessing  can  be  seen  in  many 
examples  (cf.  Singer,  p.  4  f  ;  p.  287  ff :  "  Blessings  on 
various  occasions  ").     Thus,  before  washing  the  hands  : — 


1  Dembitz,  op.  cit.  p.  259.  *  Jewish  Religion,  p.  417. 


334    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments ,  and  com- 
manded us  concerning  the  washing  of  the  hands.  Or 
again,  on  placing  the  Tefilidh  (phylactery)  on  the  arm  : — 

Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments,  and  hast 
commanded  us  to  lay  the   Tefillin   (Singer,   p.    i6). 

A  whole  series  of  short  Benedictions  has  been  developed 
expressive  of  thanksgiving  for  personal  benefits  or  enjoy- 
ments, thankful  recognition  of  God's  goodness  and 
providence  as  shown  in  the  work  of  creation  and  the 
phenomena  of  life  and  nature. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  and  interesting  of  these  is 
that  recited  over  meals.  In  accordance  with  the  Biblical 
command  (Deut.  8^°)  grace  at  meals,i  i.e.,  according 
to  the  Rabbis'  grace  both  before  and  after  eating,  is 
obligatory.  The  Blessing  over  bread,  which  is  recited 
before  the  meal  begins,  and  which  may  have  been  known 
to  our  Lord  runs  : — 

Blessed  art  thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
who  bringest  forth  bread  from  the  earth. 

The  recitation  that  follows  the  meal  is  more  elaborate. 
Here  the  Blessings  now  number  four  (see  Singer,  p.  286), 
and  are  ascribed  by  the  Talmud  {B.  Berak  48^),  the  first 
to  Moses,  the  second  to  Joshua,  the  third  to  King  Solomon, 
and  the  fourth  to  the  Rabbis  of  Jamnia  (second  century 

A.D.). 

Altogether,  something  like  a  hundred  forms  ol  Bene- 
diction are  extant  in  Rabbinical  literature,  and  this 
fact  eloquently  attests  how  vivid  in  Jewish  piety  the 
sense  of  God's  providence  and  goodness  is,  and  what 
genuine  devotion  this  sensitiveness  has  evoked.  As  a 
Jewish  writer  well  says,  "  Every  manifestation  of  Divine 
protection  and  help  became  an  opportunity  for  the  pious 

1  Hebrew  Birkath  ha-mazon,  cf.  in  the  New  Testament  the 
reference  to  our  Lord's  custom  of  giving  thanks  before  distributing 
bread  at  a  meal  (St.  Matt.  14^^ ;  i5^« ;  26-"  and  cf.  Acts  2735). 


THE   ^^SHEMA-"  335 

Israelite  to  offer  up  thanksgiving  in  the  usual  form  of 
a  benediction."  (Dr.  Kohler  in  JE,  iii,  lo.)  In  the 
liturgy  proper  the  set  Benediction  plays  an  important 
part.  One  of  the  most  famous  of  its  constitutent  elements 
— the  so-called  "  Eighteen  Blessings  "  (Shemoneh 
'Esreh=r"  Eighteen  ")  ' — consists  of  a  number  of  bene- 
dictions constructed  in  regular  form,  which  are  strung 
together,  and  invariably  end  with  the  formula  "  Blessed 
art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe,  who," 
etc.  Here,  strangely  enough,  however,  the  element  of 
petition  is  mingled  with  that  of  blessing.  The  Shemoneh 
'Esreh  is  one  of  the  central  parts  of  the  Prayer-Book  ; 
it  recurs  in  various  forms  in  all  the  services,  and,  moreover, 
is  recited  in  a  double  form,  first  silently  and  then  audibly, 
in  the  congregation.  Special  Benedictions  are  also 
recited  before  and  after  the  reading  of  the  Law,  being 
introduced  by  the  formula,  "  Bless  ye."  This  is  in 
accordance   with   Bibhcal   precedent    (Neh.   8^).'^ 

IV.  The  Shema'  with  its  Benedictions. 
Another  prominent  and  important  element  in  the 
liturgy,  the  recitation  of  which  is  introduced  and  followed 
by  solemn  Benedictions,  is  the  Shema'.  The  Shema' 
consists,  as  is  well  known,  of  three  paragraphs  from  the 
Law,  viz.,  Deut.  6^'^ ;  ii^^-ai  and  Num.  15=^'""  (cf.  Singer, 
p.  40  f.).  The  solemn  recitation  of  the  Shema'  is 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  ancient  features  in  Je\vish 
liturgical  worship.  It  is  more  than  once  alluded  to  by 
our  Lord  in  the  Gospels  (cf.  St.  Mark  12^^  f.  and  parallels). 
The  question  arises,  What  is  its  exact  significance  in 
Jewish    worship  ?       What    is    the    essential    meaning 


^  See  for  these  Singer,  pp.  44-54.  In  the  present  recension 
one  has  been  added,  and  there  are  really  nineteen. 

2  With  this  may  be  compared  the  custom  of  chanting  the 
formula  "  Glory  be  to  Tliee,  O  God,"  and  "  Thanks  be  to  Thee, 
O  Lord,  for  this  Thy  Holy  Gospel,"  before  and  after  the  reading 
of  the  Gospel  in  our  own  liturgy. 


336    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

attached  to  its  three  sections  ?  The  idea  on  which,  in 
the  Jewish  mind,  most  stress  is  consciously  laid  is,  with- 
out doubt,  the  assertion  of  God's  essential  unity  found 
in  its  opening  clause  :  Hear,  0  Israel ;  the  Lord  {Jehovah) 
our  God,  the  Lord  [Jehovah)  is  one  !  It  is  significant 
that  this  opening  clause  is  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  contents  of  the  formula  by  the  solemn  interjection  : 
Blessed  he  His  name,  whose  glorious  kingdom  is  for  ever 
and  ever  !  ^ 

Originally,  the  assertion  of  God's  unity  was  directed 
against  the  polytheistic  ideas  of  surrounding  heathendom. 
But  now  that  Judaism  finds  itself  (in  Europe,  at  any 
rate)  in  a  Christian  environment,  the  old  idea  has  been 
modified,  and  the  formula  is  understood  in  a  Unitarian 
sense  as  opposed  to  the  Trinitarian  conception  of  the 
Godhead    on    the    part    of    orthodox    Christianity. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  be  noted  that  an  extended 
significance  is  given  to  the  clause  by  the  great  Jewish 
commentator,  Rashi  (a.d.  1040-1105).  According  to 
him  it  is  not  merely  an  assertion  of  God's  essential  unity, 
but  a  declaration  that  "  the  Lord  who  now  is  worshipped 
by  Israel  will  hereafter  be  alone  worshipped  by  all  man- 
kind, and  will  thus  be  the  only  God  in  recognition,  as  He 
is  already  in  truth. "^ 

Understood  in  Rashi's  sense  the  first  clause  of  the 
Shema'  may  be  compared  with  the  second  petition  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  and  with  the 
frequent  expressions  of  a  similar  aspiration  that  occur 
elsewhere  in  the  Jewish  liturgy.^ 


s  It  is  also  the  last  utterance  to  be  said  by  the  dying  Israelite 
on  liis  deathbed  (see  Singer,  p.  317)  ;  note  also  its  repetition  in 
the  rehearsal  of  the  deathbed  scene  at  the  conclusion  service  for 
the  Day  of  Atonement  (Singer  p.  269). 

2  Cf.  Rashi  on  Dent.  6^  The  average  Jew,  however,  still  firmly 
believes  that  Christians  worship  three  Gods. 

3  E.g.,  especially  in  the  Kaddish  :  "  Magnified  and  sanctified 
be  His  great  name  in  the  world  which  He  hath  created,"  etc. 
(Singer,  p.  37). 


THE    "SHEMA"'  337 

The  second  section  of  the  Shema'  (Deut.  ii^^^i)  con- 
tains promises  of  reward  for  obedience  to  the  Divine 
commandments,  and  threats  of  punishment  for  dis- 
obedience. The  third  section  (Num.  15"""^)  embraces 
the  commandment  relating  to  the  fringe  and  the  "  corners 
of  the  garments  "  to  the  hteral  performance  of  which 
so  much  importance  is  attached  by  orthodox  Jews. 
The  Shema'  may  thus  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  elementary 
creed,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  formal  one.  The  necessity 
for  formulating  the  articles  of  Israel's  belief  was  not  felt 
to  exist  till  a  comparatively  late  date  (twelfth  century 
A.D.),  when  Maimonides  summed  them  up  under  thirteen 
paragraphs  (cf.  Singer  p.  89).  This,  however,  has  never 
been  formally  adopted  by  the  Jews,  though  it  is  recited 
in  the  Synagogue,  and  in  a  metrical  form  (see  Singer, 
p.  2,  known  as  Yigdal)  often  sung  by  the  congregation. 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  contents  of  the  Shema'  correspond 
to  the  second  and  eleventh  articles  of  Maimonides'  Creed 
(God's  unity,  and  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments) . 

As  already  stated  the  recitation  of  the  Shema'  is  preceded 
and  followed,  both  in  the  evening  and  morning,  by 
benedictions  ;  both  in  the  evening  and  morning  it  is 
preceded  by  two,  while  in  the  evening  it  is  followed  by 
two,  and  in  the  morning  by  one.  The  first  Blessing  that 
precedes  in  the  evening  (cf.  Singer  p.  96)  gives  thank- 
ful expression  for  the  providential  order  by  which  day 
is  divided  from  night.  The  next,  known  as  'Ahdbdh 
(  =  Love)  from  its  opening  word,  is  a  thanksgiving  for 
God's  love  to  Israel,  as  shown  in  His  gift  of  the  Law.' 

The  last  clause  (of  the  third  section)  of  the  Shema' 
refers  to  the  deliverance  from  Egypt.  Hence  the  Bene- 
diction that  immediately  follows  both  in  the  evening 
and  the  morning  has  reference  to  redemption  (Heb. 
guellah)  and  in  each  case  it  closes  with  the  words  :  Blessed 


1  The   evening   'Ahabah   differs   in   diction   from    that  of   the 
morning,  and  is  probably  of  later  origin. 

23— (2417) 


338    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

art  Thou,  0  Lord,  who  hast  redeemed  Israel}  It  is  a  thanks- 
giving for  the  crowning  act  of  redemption  from  Egyptian 
bondage  by  which  Israel  became  a  nation  and  Jehovah's 
people.  From  Jer.  23'  it  seems  probable  that  reference 
to  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  in  the  pubHc  services 
goes  back  to  the  time  of  the  first  Temple.  The  Bene- 
diction that  follows  (the  second)  is  pecuhar  to  the  evening, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  compositions  in  the 
Jewish  hturgy  (cf.  Singer,  pp.  99,  100).  The  morning 
Benedictions  are  almost  certainly  of  greater  antiquity 
than  those  of  the  evening.^  The  former  consist  of  two 
preceding  and  one  following  the  recitation  of  the  Shema.' 
The  first  of  these  is  the  great  Benediction  over  the  creation 
of  hght  (cf.  Singer,  pp.  37-39),  and  in  what  was  probably 
its  original  form  was  quite  short.  In  this  form  it  was  a 
thanksgiving  for  the  creation  of  natural  Hght,  the  light 
of  day,  and  was  thus  implicitly  a  protest  against  Persian 
dualism  with  its  gods  of  light  and  darkness  (Ormuzd 
and  Ahriman) ,  and  against  sun-  moon-  and  star-worship. 
The  second  Benediction,  known,  as  already  explained, 
from  its  opening  word  as  Ahabah  (=Love)  is  a  thanks- 
giving for  the  light  of  revelation  as  given  to  God's  people 
in  the  Law  (Torah).  As  a  Jewish  Rabbi  (Asher  of  Lunel) 
has  well  remarked  :  "  The  sun  gives  light  only  in  the 
daytime,  the  Torah  by  day  and  by  night  ;  as  Psalm 
19  praises  God  first  for  the  sun  and  then  for  the  Torah 
(Law)  which  enlightens  the  mind,  so  should  we  also  give 
praise  in  these  two  Benedictions."  ^ 

The  Benediction  that  follows  the  morning  Shema' 
is,  as  already  stated,  that  known  as  geulldh  {—Redemp- 
tion).'^    In   its   essence   this   is   a   thanksgiving  for    the 

1  The  technical  name  of  the  whole  Benediction  is  geulldh.  See 
for  the  full  form  (for  the  evening)  Singer,  pp.  98,  99. 

2  It  is  probable  that  the  Shema  in  its  present  form  was  originally 
designed  for  the  morning  service  only. 

'  Cf.,  JE,  i,  p.  281   (s.v.  'Ahabah  Rabbah). 
*  See  Singer,  pp.  42-44. 


"  KADDISH  "  339 

redemption  from  Egypt.  But  here  again  a  great  deal 
of  amplification  has  taken  place.  Originally  the  subject 
of  the  Benediction  was  thanksgiving  for  past,  not  request 
for  future,  redemption.  In  its  present  form,  however, 
a  petition  has  been  inserted  towards  the  end  (see  Singer, 
p.  44),  which  runs  :  0  Rock  of  Israel,  arise  to  the  help  of 
Israel,  and  deliver,  according  to  Thy  promise,  Judah 
and  Israel. 

Of  the  other  inserted  matter  one  of  the  longest  pieces 
is  that  near  the  beginning  of  the  Benediction,  commencing 
with  the  words  :  It  is  true  the  God  of  the  Universe  is 
our  King,  and  ending  :  There  is  no  God  beside  Thee  (of. 
Singer,  pp.  42,  43).  Here  the  two  main  thoughts  are 
the  unchangeable  validity  of  the  Law,  and  the  assertion 
that  God  alone  is  Redeemer.  The  latter  was  probably 
intended  as  a  protest  against  Christianity.  ^ 

V.  "  Kaddish  and  Prayers  for  the  Dead." 
Side  by  side  with  the  Shema'  and  the  Eighteen  Blessings 
may  be  ranked  in  importance  the  formula  known  as 
Kaddish.  The  Kaddish  fulfils  much  the  same  function 
in  the  Jewish  services  that  the  Lord's  Prayer  does  in 
Christian  offices.  It  introduces  different  stages  in  the 
service.  Thus  in  its  responsive  form  it  introduces  the 
Shema'  and  its  blessings  (cf.  Singer,  p.  37).  It  also  is 
used  in  a  longer  and  shorter  form,  and,  strangely  enough, 
partially  corresponds  in  substance  to  the  Christian 
prayer.     Its  most  important  clauses  contain  a  prayer 

1  Cf.  also  in  the  same  context  the  sentence  :  "  True  it  is  that 
Thou  art  indeed  the  first,  and  Thou  art  the  last,  and  beside  Thee 
we  have  no  King,  Redeemer  or  Saviour  "  (Singer,  p.  43).  Similar 
expressions  occur  elsewhere  in  the  liturgy  (usually  later  insertions). 
It  is  noticeable  that  the  Christian  idea  of  redemption  from  sin 
never  occurs.  Wliile  in  the  New  Testament  the  idea  of  redemp- 
tion has  been  wholly  spiritualized,  in  the  devotional  literature  of 
the  Synagogue  the  old  national  and  materialistic  associations  still 
cling  to  it.  The  contrast  between  the  two  conceptions  is  marked, 
and  the  spiritual  and  religious  advance  of  the  Christian  one  is 
obvious. 


340    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

for  the  sanctification  (or  hallowing)  of  God's  name  and 
the  establishment  of  His  kingdom  throughout  the  world 
(=the  second  and  third  petitions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer). 
This  runs  as  follows  : — 

Magnified  and  sanctified  he  His  great  name  in  the  world 
which  He  hath  created  according  to  His  will.  May  He 
establish  His  Kingdom  during  your  life  and  during  your 
days,  and  during  the  life  of  all  the  House  of  Israel  even 
speedily  and  at  a  near  time,  and  say  ye  Amen} 

A  curious  custom  has  grown  up  in  connexion  with 
this  prayer.  A  special  form  of  it  known  as  "  Mourners' 
Kaddish "  (cf.  Singer,  p.  77),  is  recited  by  mourners 
during  the  first  year  after  the  death  of  a  parent,  and 
on  the  anniversaries  afterwards.  The  mourners  present 
mount  the  bema,  and  clad  in  the  praying-shawl  (talith) 
chant  in  a  body  the  reader's  part  of  the  prayer,  receiving 
the  responses  of  the  congregation.  The  prayer  is  in  no 
sense  in  itself  a  prayer  for  the  dead,  but  the  pubHc  recita- 
tion of  it  in  this  fashion  by  a  son  is  regarded  as  proof 
of  the  piety  of  the  dead,  as  represented  by  a  pious  survivor. 
In  this  connexion  it  may  be  noted  that  on  certain  days 
(four)  in  the  year,^  prayers  are  said  in  the  Ashkenazic 
S3niagogues  for  the  souls  of  dead  parents  or  relatives. 
Only  those  who  have  actually  suffered  bereavement 
take  part  in  these  exercises — others  leaving  the  synagogue 
for  the  time  being.  Each  person  prays  independently  ; 
for  a  dead  father  thus  : — 

May  God  remember  the  soul  of  my  honoured  father 
{naming  him)  who  has  gone  to  his  eternal  home  ;  on  whose 
behalf  I  vow  alms  ;  by  way  of  reward,  be  his  soul  bound 
up  in  the  bundle  of  life  [cf.  i  Sam.  252^)  with  the  Souls 
of  Abraham,   Isaac  and    Jacob,   Sarah,   Rebecca,   Rachel 


1  The  whole  is  said  by  the  reader,  the  congregation  joining  in 
the  Amen. 

2  Viz.,  the  eighth  day  of  Passover,  second  of  Pentecost,  Day  of 
Atonement,  and  eiglith  day  of  Tabernacles  (Shemini  Atsereth). 


ARRANGEMENT  OF   PRAYERS  341 

and  Leah,  and  all  other  righteous  men  and  women  thai  are 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  let  us  say  AmenA 

In  many  Synagogues  a  sort  of  bidding  prayer  is  read 
by  the  cantor  on  the  great  festivals  ;  a  hst  of  names  of 
dead  pious  donors  being  read  out,  and  a  commemoration 
being  made  of  them.  Bequests  are  made  for  this  special 
purpose,  or  donations  given  by  surviving  relatives.  A 
requiem  for  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  is  also  said  in  the 
morning  sei-vice  for  certain  Sabbaths  (cf.  Singer,  p.  155.) 

VI.  The  Arrangement  of  the  Prayers. 

The  prayers  that  make  up  the  Jewish  Liturgy  may 
be  classified  as  follows  :  They  consist  of  Benedictions 
(i.e.  as  we  have  seen,  special  forms  of  thanksgiving  for 
various  occasions,  or  for  use  before  or  after  the  perform- 
ance of  some  religious  duty)  ;  passages  from  Scripture 
and  Rabbinical  Literature  about  Sacrifices  :  specimen- 
passages  from  the  post-Biblical  Literature  which  are 
intended  to  remind  the  good  Jew  of  the  importance 
of  sacred  study  as  a  religious  obligation  ;  Psalms  and 
Hyrmts  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  ;  Confession  of  faith, 
as  embodied  in  t\\e  Shema'  (Deut.  6*  f.,  "  Hear,  O  Israel," 
etc.),  and  in  the  Creed  of  Maimonides  ;  Petition — 
prayers  for  the  granting  of  various  benefits,  always,  or 
almost  always  with  reference  to  Israel.  The  most 
important  of  these  are  embodied  in  the  great  Amidah 
prayer  (the  so-called  "  Eighteen  Blessings  ")  ;  Confession 
of  'Sin  and  supplication  for  forgiveness.  The  element  of 
confession  [widduy)  has  been  elaborately  worked  out, 
especially  in  connexion  with  the  Atonement-Day  Services. 
Prayers  of  supplication  [tachantmtm)  are  also  frequent, 
and  special  litanies  of  forgiveness  {selkhoth),  in  poetical 
form,   have   been   elaborated.     The   latter   are   used   in 


Cf.  Singer,  p.  326. 


342    SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

connexion   with   the   penitential   period   culminating   in 
the  Day  of  Atonement.^ 

Some  idea  of  the  ordering  and  arrangement  of  a  Jewish 
Synagogue-service  can  be  formed  from  a  short  analysis 
of  one  of  the  typical  services — the  daily  morning  prayer. 
The  characteristic  features  and  arrangement  of  this 
recur,  with  modifications  in  all  the  other  services. 

The  morning  service,  as  set  forth  in  Singer  (pp.  1-94), 
is  made  up  as  follows,  and  in  the  following  order  : — 
(i)  Blessings  of  the  Morning.  These  refer  to  the  change 
from  night  to  day,  from  sleep  to  fresh  life,  from 
rest  to  activity  (Singer,  p.  4.  ff.).  They  were 
originally  intended  for  private  devotion  at 
home. 

(2)  Sacrifices  and  Study.  Passages  from  the  Bible 
and  post-biblical  writings  referring  to  the  daily 
sacrificia  Iservice  in  the  Temple  (Singer,  p.  9  ff.), 
and  an  extract  from  the  Baraitha  (Singer,  p.  13  f.)  ; 
cf.  also  the  short  extract  from  the  Mislmah,  p.  5. 
These  passages  were  -  inserted  as  a  short  sample 
and  minimum  of  study. 

(3)  Psalms  and  sections  of  praise.  Various  psalms 
and  psalm -pieces,  culminating  in  the  Red- 
Sea  Song  (Exodus  15),  and  closing  with  the 
"  Benediction  of  Song  "  (Singer,  pp.  17-36)  : 

(4)  Half-Kaddish.  Introducing  the  Shema'  ("  Hear, 
O  Israel,"  etc.),  and  its  eulogies  (before  and  after 
it)  (Singer,  pp.  37-44)  : 

(5)  The  Shemoneh  'Esreh  {"  Eighteen  Blessings  ") 
or  A?mddh-prayer  (Singer,  pp.  44-54)  : 

(6)  Supplications  (tachanunim),  pp.  54-62,  followed 
by  "  And  David  said"  (p.  62),  Ps.  6  (penitential), 

1  From  the  New  Year  (Tisri  i  and  2)  to  the  Day  of  Atonement 
(Tisri  10)  a  penitential  period  of  great  solemnity  is  observed  ("  the 
ten  days  of  Penitence"). 

2  The  reading  of  the  pieces  about  sacrifice  was  also  considered 
as,  in  some  sort,  a  substitute  for  the  actual  offering  of  the  same. 


THE   MORNING   SERVICE  343 

"  O  Guardian  of    Israel  "   (pp.    64-65)    and  Half 
Kaddish. 

(7)  Psalms  145  and  20,  followed  by  "And  a 
Redeemer  shall  come,"  and  "  But  Thou  art  holy," 
etc,  (pp.  71-75)  ;    then — 

(8)  Fidl  Kaddish,  "  It  is  our  duty  "  and  "  Mourners' 
Kaddish  "    (pp.    75-78)  ;     and    finally — 

(9)  The  Psalm  for  the  Day     (p.  80  ff.). 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

The  Sabbath. 

The  Sabbath  not  a  Burden— The  "  Hallowing  "  of  the  Sabbath— The 
Weekly  Lesson  from  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Prophets — The 
Sabbath  Rest  from  Labour,  etc. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Sabbath-rest  of  the 
Jews  is  to  them  a  rigorous  and  exacting  observance,  so 
austere  in  its  demands  as  to  kill  out  all  joy  and  loveliness. 
On  the  contrary,  it  appeals  to  the  real  Jew  as  a  divinely- 
given  rest  from  the  turmoil  and  bitter  opposition  of  a 
hostile  world.  It  is — and  always  has  been  among  the 
Jews — essentially  a  festal  observance.  The  more  opposi- 
tion and  persecution  have  crystallized  without,  the  more 
passionate  has  the  attachment  of  the  Jew  become  to  what 
he  regards  as  the  most  precious  legacy  of  his  national  past. 

It  is  true  that  like  all  Jewish  observances  its  external 
setting  has  been  rigorously  fixed  and  defined  by  Law, 
and  as  a  consequence  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  has 
been  liable  to  the  dangers  that  especially  beset  legalism — 
externahsm  and  formalism.  It  is  necessary,  however, 
to  guard  against  the  mistake  of  refusing  to  recognize 
beneath  all  the  forbidding  exterior  of  Rabbinical  enact- 
ments about  the  thirty-nine  kinds  of  work  not  permitted 
on  the  Sabbath,  etc.,  the  heart  of  passionate  feefing  and 
emotional  tenderness  that  pulsates  behind. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  expressions  of  Jewish  senti- 
ment about  the  Sabbath  is  to  be  found  in  the  hymn 
sung  every  Friday  evening  in  the  Synagogue  in  which 
the  Sabbath  is  compared  to  a  bride,  and  bidden  to  come 
to  her  husband  who  awaits  her — the  Almighty.  ^     In  the 

1  See  Singer,  p.  1 1 1  f . :  from  its  opening  words  it  is  called  lekah 
dodi. 

344 


SABBATH-HYMN  345 

excellent  English  version  of  Mrs.  H.  Lucas  the  first  four 
stanzas  run  as  follows  : 

Come  forth,  my  Friend,  the  bride  to  meet  ; 
Come,  O  my  Friend,  the  Sabbath  greet  ! 
"  Observe  ye  "  and  "  remember  "  stiU 
The  Sabbath — thus  His  holy  will 
God  in  one  utterance  did  proclaim. 
The  Lord  is  one,  and  one  His  name 
To  his  renown  and  praise  and  fame. 


Greet  we  the  Sabbath  at  our  door. 
Well  spring  of  blessing  evermore, 
With  everlasting  gladness  fraught. 
Of  old  ordained,  divinely  taught. 
Last  in  creation,  first  in  thouglit. 


Come  forth,  etc. 


Come  forth,  etc. 


Arouse  thyself,  awake  and  shine, 

For  lo  !    it  comes,  the  light  divine. 

Give  forth  a  song,  for  over  thee 

The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be 

Revealed  in  beauty  speedily. 

Come  forth,  etc. 

Crown  of  thy  Husband,  come  in  peace. 
Come,  bidding  toil  and  trouble  cease. 

With  joy  and  cheerfulness  abide 

Among  thy  people  true  and  tried, 

Thy  faithful  people — Come,  O  bride  ! 

Come  forth,  my  Friend,  the  bride  to  meet, 
Come,  O  my  Friend,  the  Sabbath  greet  ! 

The  duties  and  obligations  connected  with  the  Sabbath 
are  summed  up  in  the  code  of  Maimonides  under  four 
terms,  derived  from  the  corresponding  Bibhcal  enactments. 
These  are  :  {a)  "  Remember  " — the  term  with  which 
the  fourth  commandment,  as  given  in  Exodus  20^  begins  ; 
(6)  "  Take  heed  "  (the  corresponding  term  in  Deut. 
5^2)  ;  (f)  "  Honour  "  and  {d)  "  Delight  " — these  last  two 
terms  being  derived  from  the  great  prophetic  passage  on 
the  Sabbath  in  Is.  58i3-i4_ 

I.    The  Hallowing  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  commandment  regarding  the  Sabbath  as  given 
in  Exodus  runs  :     Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  sanctify 
it  (keep  it  holy).     The  traditional  way  of  explaining  the 


346    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

term  "  remember  "  in  this  injunction  is  "  remember  it 
over  the  wine  "  (T.B.  Pesach,  107^)  ;  and  the  ceremonies 
in  which  this  is  carried  out  are  known  as  Kiddush 
or  "  Sanctification  "  and  Hahdalah  or  "  Separation  " 
("  Distinction"). 

Before  sunset  and  darkness  on  Friday  the  Jewish  wife 
hghts  in  the  dining-room  extra  candles  or  a  special  lamp 
in  honour  of  the  Sabbath,  pronouncing  over  them,  as 
she  does  so  : 

Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
Who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments,  and 
commanded  us  to  light  the  Sabbath  lamp. 

On  the  return  of  the  father  with  his  sons  from  the 
Synagogue  service  (for  the  women  rarely  attend  Synagogue 
on  Friday  night),  they  find  the  table  prepared — spread 
with  a  clean  tablecloth,  and  at  the  head  (where  the  father 
sits)  two  loaves  of  bread  (which  are,  as  a  rule,  specially 
baked  for  the  occasion),  in  memory  of  the  double  portion 
of  manna  which  was  gathered  on  Fridays.  These  are 
covered  with  a  napkin  :  near  them  stands  an  empty  cup, 
and  close  to  this  a  jug  or  bottle  of  wine  to  fill  it.  The 
husband  begins  by  chanting  the  praise  of  a  virtuous  wife.* 
He  then  begins  the  Kiddush  proper.  This  is  prefaced 
by  the  verses  in  Genesis  relating  the  work  of  creation  on 
the  sixth  day  and  the  seventh.  Then  he  fills  the  cup  and 
holding  it  up,  proceeds  : — 

Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe  : 
the  Creator  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine.  Blessed  art  Thou,  0 
Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe,  Who  hast  sanctified 
us  by  Thy  commandments,  and  wast  pleased  with  us,  and 
hast  given  us  for  a  heritage,  in  love  and  favour.  Thy  holy 
Sabbath,  a  memorial  of  the  work  of  creation.  For  it  precedes 
all  the  holy  convocations,  in  memory  of  the  going  forth  from 
Egypt.  For  Thou  hast  chosen  us,  and  hast  hallowed  us 
above  all  nations,  and  hast  given  us  in  love  and  favour  Thy 


Cf.  Singer,  p.   123. 


THE   "  KIDDUSH  "  CEREMONY  347 

holy  Sabbath  for  a  heritage.      Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord, 
Who  hallowest  the  Sabbath. 

The  father  then  drinks  from  the  cup,  hands  it  to  his  wife, 
and  she  to  the  children  and  others  at  the  table,  all  drinking 
from  it.  Then  follows  the  ceremony  of  washing  the  hands. 
The  husband  then  utters  the  benediction  for  bread  : 

Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
Who  bringest  forth  bread  from  the  earth. 
And  he  proceeds  to  cut  one  loaf,  taking  a  piece  for 
himself  and  distributing  pieces  to  the  others.  If  wine  is 
not  at  hand,  the  washing  of  hands  takes  places  first,  and 
the  benediction  over  bread  is  substituted  for  that  over 
wine,  and  the  bread  cut  and  distributed  at  once.  Then 
follows  the  Sabbath  meal. 

It  should  be  added  that  the  Kiddiish  also  exists  in  a 
purely  verbal  form  in  the  Friday  evening  service  at  Syna- 
gogue (which,  of  course,  precedes  the  Sabbath  meal  just 
described).  There  it  forms  the  middle  section  of  the 
Atnidah  Prayer.     (See  Singer,  pp.  ii6,  117.) 

And  also,  since  Talmudic  times,  it  has  been  customary 
in  the  Synagogue  for  the  reader  to  sanctify  over  the  cup 
near  the  end  of  the  service.^  This  is  decidedly  irregular, 
as  the  Kiddiish  ceremony  ought  to  be  performed  at  the 
place  of  the  meal,  i.e.,  at  home.  It  seems  to  have  arisen 
from  the  custom  which  existed  in  the  middle  ages  of  pro- 
viding for  poor  travellers.  They  were  lodged  and  fed 
either  in  rooms  adjoining  the  Synagogue,  or  even  in  the 
Synagogue  itself.  "  It  was  for  these  that  the  reader 
recited  Kiddiish,  before  they  commenced  the  evening 
meal,  as  most  probably  wine  was  not  served  to  all."  ^ 
Hence  the  ceremony  is  placed  at  the  end  of  the  service. 
The  special  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  the  custom 
have  long  since  disappeared — poor  travellers  no  longer 

>  The    reader  does    not,  however,  drink  himself,   but  usually 
lets  some  children  take  a  few  drops  from  the  cup. 
*  Friedlander. 


348    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

being  provided  for  in  this  way.  But  the  ceremony  is 
still,  nevertheless,  retained  as  part  of  the  Synagogue 
service.  The  only  exception  is  the  first  two  nights 
of  Passover,  when  there  has  never  been  any  need  to 
read  Kiddush  in  the  Synagogue.  On  these  nights  the 
poor  were  provided  with  four  cups  of  wine  each,  and 
they  recited  KiddtUh  by  themselves  as  part  of  the  Seder 
(Passover  Meal).  Kiddilsh  it  may  be  added  is  not 
confined  to  the  Sabbath.  The  festivals  also  are  pre- 
ceded in  exactly  the  same  way  by  a  solemn  "  sanctifica- 
tion."  Thus  there  is  a  Kiddush  for  Passover,  Weeks 
(i.e.,  Pentecost),  and  Tabernacles,  and  the  8th  Day  of 
Solemn  Assembly.  The  ceremony  is  substantially  the 
same  in  all  cases,  wine  being  used  and  a  festive  meal 
following,  only  the  blessings  being  varied  to  suit  the  special 
character  of  the  day.  Thus  the  Kiddiish-cup  is  the  first 
of  the  four  Passover  Cups.  The  remarkable  likeness 
in  form  of  this  ceremony  to  the  Christian  Eucharist  must 
have  already  suggested  itself  to  the  reader. ^  There  is 
also  another  kindred  ceremony  which  takes  place  on  the 
mornings  of  Sabbaths  and  Festivals,  and  which  is  called 
(in  irony  accorchng  to  Dembitz)  Great  Kiddush — "  great  " 
because  of  its  slight  importance.  It  is  celebrated  before 
breakfast  ;  certain  appropriate  verses  from  Scripture  are 
recited  ;  then  the  benediction  over  a  cup  of  wine  or  strong 
drink  ;  then  the  benediction  over  bread  and  the  meal. 
The  passages  recited  are  Ez.  31^^'^';  20^~^^  and  Is. 
5813.14.  for  the  Sabbath  morning.^  It  will  have  been 
noticed  that  the  Sabbath  is  specially  connected  not  only 
with  the  work  of  creation,  but  with  the  deliverance  from 
Egypt  whereby  Israel  was  made  a  nation.  This  latter 
connexion  has  a  BibHcal  basis  in  the  Deuteronomic 
version  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  where  as  an  additional 


1  See  further  on  this  point  an  art.  by  G.  H.  Box  on  "The  Jewish 
Antecedents  of  the  Eucharist,"  in  The  Journal  of  Theological 
Studies  ii,  357  f.    (1902). 

*  Cf.  Singer,  p.    174. 


THE  "HABDALAH"  CEREMONY    349 

reason  for  the  sabbath-rest  being  shared  by  man-servant 
and  maid-servant,  Israel  is  reminded  that  thou  wast  a 
servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Lord  thy  God  brought 
thee  out  thence  by  a  mighty  hand  and  by  a  stretched 
out  arm  ;  therefore  the  Lord  thy  God  commanded  thee  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  day.^ 

The  other  ceremony  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  is  called  Habddldh,  i.e.,  separation,  and  takes  place 
on  Saturday  evening  after  the  going  out  of  the  Sabbath. 
After  the  evening  service  at  Synagogue  the  family 
returns  to  the  house.  The  constituents  of  the  ceremony 
are  a  cup  of  wine,  a  lighted  wax  candle,  and  a  spice- 
box.  Certain  verses  of  scripture  having  been  recited, 
the  blessing  over  wine  is  said,  followed  by  one  for  the 
"  light  rays  of  the  fire,"  another  "  for  many  kinds  of 
spices,"  and  lastly  by  the  Habddldh  proper  which  runs 
thus : — 

Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord  our  God,  Who  distinguishest 
between  holy  and  profane,  between  light  and  darkness, 
between  Israel  and  the  nations,  between  the  seventh  day 
and  the  six  work-days  ;  Blessed  art  Thou,  0  Lord,  Who 
distinguishest  between  holy  and  profane} 

The  wine  is  then  drunk,  and  the  wax  candle  is  put 
out  with  drops  from  the  cup. 

Here  again  a  purely  verbal  form  has  been  embodied 
in  the  Synagogue-prayers.  In  the  evening  service  for 
Saturdays  "  separation  "  is  introduced  in  the  fourth 
benediction  in  the  Amidah-Vv3.yex .^  The  Talmud  says 
quaintly  :  "  When  the  children  of  Israel  were  poor,  it 
was  ordained  to  '  separate  '  in  the  Prayer  (i.e.,  in  the 
A  midah-FTctyer  at  the  Synagogue-service) ;  when  they  got 
to  be  rich,  to  'separate '  over  the  cup  (i.e.,  at  Home) ;  then 
they  got  poor  again,  and  again  separated  in  the  Prayer." 
Now,  of  course,  both  are  done  as  described  (at  Home  and 


»  Deut.  5I6,  a  Cf.  Singer,  p.  216  f. 

3  Cf.  Singer,  p.  46. 


350    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

in  the  Synagogue).^     But  to  resume  our  description  of 

the    home-ceremony.      After   the  drinking  of  the  wine 

hymns  follow. 

The  opening  stanza  of  one  of  these,  as  rendered  by 

Mrs.  Lucas,  runs  thus  : — 

May  He  Who  sets  the  holy  and  profane 
Apart,  blot  out  our  sins  before  His  sight, 
And  make  our  numbers  as  the  sand  again, 
And  as  the  stars  of  night. 

In  another  hymn  they  pray  to  God  to  send  speedily 
Elijah  the  prophet,  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  EHjah  the 
Gileadite,  and  the  Anointed  King. 

A  few  customs  connected  with  the  Habddluh  ceremony 
are  worth  noting. 

(i)  The  wine  when  poured  into  the  cup,  is  allowed  to 
flow  over  (a  symbol  of  joy). 

(2)  Some  dip  the  finger  in  wine  and  pass  it  over  their 
eyes,  in  allusion  to  the  words  of  Ps.  19^ :  The  Com- 
mandment of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes. 
Devotion  to  the  divine  Law  is  so  expressed. 

(3)  Only  males  partake  of  the  Habddldh  wine.  It  is 
the  rule  for  Jewish  women  to  abstain  from  wine  and  strong 
drink.  They  only  partake  of  the  Kiddush  wine  because 
of  its  importance.  If  a  festival  falls  on  a  Sunday 
(i.e.,  begins  on  Saturday  night)  the  Habddldh  is  still  said 
(only  in  a  slightly  modified  form)  as  the  sanctity  of 
Sabbath  is  superior  to  that  of  the  festival.  In  such  a  case 
the  modified  Habddldh  is  combined  with  the  Kiddush  of 
the  Festival. 

Of  the  antiquity  of  Kiddush  and  Habddldh  there  can 
be  no  possible  doubt.  The  Talmud  [Berakhoth  51^) 
records  that  it  was  a  matter  in  dispute  between  the 
Schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammai  as  to  whether  the  Kiddush 

^  It  should  be  added  that  besides  the  separation  in  the  A  midah' 
Prayer,  the  full  Habddldh  service  is  recited  by  the  Reader  in 
Synagogue  at  the  end  of  the  service  for  the  conclusion  of  the 
Sabbath  (cf.  Singer,  p.  215). 


SABBATH-LESSONS  351 

should  come  first  and  then  the  benediction  over  the 
wine,  or  vice  versa.  Thus  the  custom  was  already  a 
well-estabhshed  one  in  pre-Christian  times. 

IL  The  Weekly  Lesson  from  the  Pentateuch 
AND  Prophets. 

Another  way  in  which  the  special  sanctity  of  the 
Sabbath  is  marked  and  emphasized  is  by  the  form  and 
substance  of  the  Sabbath-Services  in  the  Synagogue, 
especially  that  of  Sabbath -morning.  Not  only  is  this 
service  lengthened  by  the  running  on  to  it  of  the  musaf 
or  "  additional  "  service,  but  in  the  morning  service  itself 
certain  special  features  occur,  such  as  the  substitution 
in  the  middle  of  the  .4  ww^^/z-prayer  (or  "  eighteen  Bene- 
dictions") of  a  single  paragraph  relating  to  the  Sabbath 
instead  of  the  thirteen  middle  paragraphs  that  ordinarily 
stand  in  the  week-day  forms  of  the  Prayer.'  But  the 
most  important  feature  about  the  Sabbath-morning  service 
is  the  reading  of  the  Lessons  and  the  connected  ceremonies. 
The  most  sacred  thing  in  a  Synagogue  is  the  scroll  of  the 
Law  ;  and  the  central  and  most  solemn  point  in  the  great 
Synagogue  service  of  the  week — that  on  Saturday  morning 
— is  reached  when  the  Reader  and  other  Synagogue- 
officials  proceed  solemnly  to  the  Ark  and  bring  back  the 
sacred  scroll  to  the  reading-desk  for  the  reading  of  the 
weekly  lection. 

The  Pentateuch -lessons  may  only  lawfully  be  read 
from  a  specially  prepared  parchment  scroll  which  is  known 
as  Sefer  Torah.  Ordinary  printed  editions  on  paper 
are  not  allowed  for  this  purpose.  For  reading  purposes 
the  Pentateuch  has  been  divided  into  fifty-four  sections 

*  The  first  three  and  last  three  paragraphs  of  the  Antidah  are 
invariably  said  ;  but  the  middle  thirteen  are  only  said  on  ordinary 
weekdays  :  on  Sabbaths  and  Festivals  their  place  is  taken  by  one 
(or  more)  long  paragraph  bearing  on  the  special  character  of  the 
day.  (Cf.  Singer,  pp.  138-139:  "Moses  rejoiced  .  .  .  O  Lord 
Who  hallowest  the  Sabbath  "  for  this  special  Sabbath  paragraph.) 


352    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

to  cover  a  year.  As  in  some  cases  the  requisite  number 
of  Sabbaths  does  not  occur  in  the  year  two  sections 
are  occasionally  read  instead  of  one  The  section  for 
each  week  is  called  by  the  Germans  Sidra,  by  the  Sefardim 
parashah.^  The  Sidras  are  sometimes  of  great  length. ^ 
To  the  ordinary  Jew  the  first  subsection  of  the  Sidra  is 
usually  more  famihar  than  the  others,  because  it  is  read 
(in  anticipation  of  the  following  Sabbath)  on  the  previous 
Sabbath  afternoon,  and  again  in  the  morning  service  of 
Monday  and  Thursday  (which  were  the  old  market  days 
in  Palestine). 

The  Pentateuch-lesson  is  distributed  among  various 
persons  who  are  said  to  be  "  called  up  "  to  the  reading. 
The  Mishnah-iu\e  about  this  is  as  follows  : 

On  Mondays  and  Thursdays  and  on  Saturday  afternoons 
three  read,  neither  more  nor  less  ;  on  new  moons  (chodesh) 
and  middle-days  of  Festivals  {Choi  ha-moed)  which  are 
reckoned  half-holidays,  four,  neither  more  nor  less  ;  on  full 
Festival-days  five  ;  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  six  ;  on  the 
Sabbath  seven — never  less  (but  there  may  be  more).  None 
should  read  in  the  Torah  less  than  three  verses. 

It  is  the  function  of  the  Leader  (Segan)  to  call  up  these 
3,  4,  5,  6,  7  (or  more)  men  to  the  reading-desk  (shulchan). 
Formerly  each  person  so  called  read  his  allotted  portion 
himself  :  but  this  is  now  always  done  by  the  Chazzan  or 
Reader,  the  person  called  simply  standing  by  the  side 
of  the  former  and  following  the  text  as  it  is  read. 

When  a  Cohen  (i.e.,  a  person  of  priestly  descent)  is  preseirt 
he  is  called  first ;  then  a  Levite  ;  and  finally  five  ordinary 
Israelites.  Each  of  these  recites  a  blessing  before  and  after 
the  reading  of  his  subsection  (cf.  Singer,  p.  146  f.).  The 
last  person  called  is  designated  niaftir  with  reference  to  the 
Haftarah  or  prophetic  lesson  which  the  maftir  often  reads. 
Haftarah   means    "  leave-giving  "    or    "  dismissal  "  ^   and   is 

1  By  the  Germans,  however,  the  term  parashah  is  applied  to 
the  subsections  into  which  the  Sidra  is  divided. 

2  There  are  indications  that  a  three-year  cycle  of  lessons  once 
existed  (in  Palestine) ;  but  this  has  now  completely  disappeared. 

3  Cf.  the  name  "  Mass  "  derived  from  the  formula  of  dismissal, 
"  ite  missa  est"   (as  usually  explained). 


THE  "HAGBAHAH"  CEREMONY    353 

applied  to  the  prophetic  lesson  because  at  one  time  the  service 
seems  to  have  concluded  with  the  latter.  The  Haftarah  is 
iisiiallj'  read  by  one  person — sometimes  even  by  boys  imder 
thirteen — from  a  printed  book  with  vowels  and  accents,  not 
from  a  scroll. 

The  yearly  cycle  of  Pentateuch  lessons  ends  on  Simchath 
Torah  ("  Rejoicmg  of  the  Law  ")  the  ninth  day  of  Taber- 
nacles, i.e.,  Tisri  23.  On  that  day  the  last  section  of  the 
Law  is  read,  and  the  person  who  is  called  up  for  this 
section  is  styled  "  Bridegroom  of  the  Law  "  {Chathan 
Torah).  On  the  same  day,  also,  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
is  read,  and  the  person  called  up  to  this  is  designated 
"  Bridegroom  of  Genesis  "  [Chathan  Bereshith).  In  both 
cases  the  actual  persons  called  up  ^  often  read  the  allotted 
portions  themselves,  as  the  Bar-Mitzvah  does.  In  all 
other  cases  the  reading  or  rather  cantillation  is  performed 
by  the  chazzan.  The  ceremonial  taking  of  the  scroll  from 
and  returning  it  to  the  Ark  forms  the  most  solemn  part 
of  the  ser\dce.  There  is  a  procession  to  the  accompaniment 
of  singing  by  the  choir.  Full  details  are  given  in  Singer, 
pp.  145-148.  After  the  Pentateuch  lesson  has  been 
concluded,  and  before  the  Prophetic  lesson  is  read,  the 
ceremony  of  the  hagbahah  or  "  elevation  "  of  the  Scroll 
takes  place.  The  leader  holds  up  the  scroll  on  high,  turning 
round  with  it  in  different  directions  so  that  all  may  see  it. 
At  the  same  time  the  congregation  repeats  the  formula 
beginning  :  "  This  is  the  Law  which  Moses  set  before 
the  Children  of  Israel,"  etc.  (Singer,  p.  148).  With  the 
Sefardim  this  ceremony  precedes  the  reading  of  the  Law. 

III.   The  Sabbath-rest  from   Labour,   etc. 

In     accordance     with     the     commandment,     "  Thou 

shalt  do  no   manner  of  work  "   on   the   Sabbath  Day, 

various  forms  of  labour,  or  what   was  defined  by  the 

Rabbis  as  "  work  "  are  prohibited.     As  is  well  known, 


1  To  be  called  up  on  this  occasion  is  regarded  as  a  special 
honour. 


354     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

travelling  or  going  beyond  a  certain  distance  ("  a  Sabbath 
day's  journey  ")  is  disallowed  (cf.  Exod.  iG^^ ;  Acts  i^^)^ 
no  fire  maybe  kindled  (cf.  Exod.  35^),  and  all  buying  and 
selling  is  forbidden  (cf.  Neh.  13^^).  In  the  Mishnah 
[Shabbath  vii,  2)  thirty-nine  kinds  of  work  are  pro- 
hibited. These  include  "  ploughing,  sowing,  reaping, 
threshing,  grinding,  baking,  hunting,  kilhng  an  animal, 
tanning,  sewing,  writing,  kindling  light  or  fire,  and 
carrying  things  abroad."  Such  things  as  riding  in  a 
carriage  or  vehicle,  playing  music,  etc.,  are  also  held  to 
be  unlawful  in  strict  circles.  As  it  is  also  regarded  as 
unlawful  actually  to  handle  money  on  Sabbath  and 
festivals  there  are  no  collections  in  the  Synagogue-service 
similar  to  our  collections  in  church.  Instead  sums  of 
money  are  promised  or  vowed,  the  names  of  donors  being 
announced,  or  rather  invoked  in  blessing  at  the  Desk. 
As;  further,  it  is  illegal  to  write,  or  use  pen,  paper, 
or  ink,  a  difficulty  naturally  arises  about  registering 
amounts  and  names  of  donors  on  such  occasions,  which 
has  been  overcome  by  the  use  of  string  and  an  ingenious 
arrangement  of  perforated  stuff. 

As  has  already  been  mentioned  the  day  is  regarded  as 
a  high  festival.  All  fasting  and  mourning  is  prohibited, 
and  the  Sabbath-meals  have  a  festive  character. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  Festivals. 

Passover  :  the  Preparation  ;  the  Seder  or  "  Home-Festival  "  ;  the 
Passover  Synagogue  Services— Pentecost  :  "  The  Counting  of  the 
Omer  "  ;   the  Festival — Tabernacles — Dedication — Puvim. 

I.     Passover. 

The  season  of  Passover  forms  quite  an  epoch  in  Jewish 
social  hfe.  The  "  Passover-hoHdays  "  are  eagerly 
looked  forward  to  by  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  Jews 
as  a  time  of  family  reunion,  a  period  for  the  renewal 
of  old  friendships  and  the  interchange  of  social  amenities, 
and  an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  hospitality  and 
the  consolidation  of  racial  bonds.  As  such  the  Passover 
season  plays  an  immensely  important  part  in  main- 
taining the  ties  which — in  spite  of  the  decay  of  orthodox 
Jewish  beliefs  in  many  quarters — keep  the  members 
of  the  Jewish  community  apart  and  distinct. 

Many  a  Jew  who  has  long  since  yielded  to  the  dis- 
integrating influences  of  modern  culture  still  finds  the 
old  family  associations  of  this  festival  strong  enough 
to  draw  him  to  the  festal  board.  He  finds  himself 
unable  to  resist  the  tender  memories  and  the  bonds  of 
good  fellowship  that  cling  around  the  Seder-i?ih\e.  The 
Feast  of  Passover  falls  in  "  the  first  month  of  the  year  " 
(Exod.  12^)  i.e.  Nisan,  or,  to  give  it  its  old  Hebrew  name 
Abib  (Exod.  13^,  etc.).  According  to  the  Biblical 
injunction  the  lamb  was  to  be  slain  on  the  afternoon  of 
Nisan  14,  and  eaten  the  same  evening,  which  would  be 
counted  the  beginning  of  Nisan  15.  From  this  time  for 
seven  days  (i.e.  Nisan  15-21)  unleavened  bread  was  to  be 
paten  (cf.  Exod.  14^^  f.),  no  leaven  of  any  kind  being 
permitted  to  remain  in  the  houses  of  Israelites.     The  first 

355 


356    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  seventh  days  (i.e.  Nisan  15  and  21)  were  to  be 
observed  as  "  holy  convocations  "  (Exod.  12^^),  i.e.  full 
holy  days,  the  intervening  days  being  half-hoHdays. 

But  from  time  immemorial  the  Jews  outside  of  Palestine 
have  added  a  day  to  their  principal  festivals.  Thus 
Passover  now  lasts  eight  days  (viz.  from  Nisan  15  to  22) 
instead  of  seven  ;  and  two  days  are  kept  as  "  holy  con- 
vocations," at  the  beginning  (Nisan  15  and  16)  and 
end  of  the  festival  (Nisan  21  and  22),  instead  of  the  one 
in  each  case  enjoined  in  Scripture.  The  explanation 
of  this  custom  has  already  been  given  above. ^ 

The  observances  connected  with  the  Passover-festival 
can  conveniently  be  described  under  the  following  heads  : 
(i)  the  Preparation  ;  (2)  the  Home-Festival  [Seder  ^)  ; 
and  (3)  the  services  in  the  Synagogue, 

i.  The  Preparation. 

Elaborate  preparations  have  always  been  made  for 
the  due  observance  of  the  festival.  In  the  time  of  our 
Lord  these  (in  Palestine)  began  in  the  middle  of  the  month 
preceding  Nisan  (Adar),  and  included  the  repairing  of 
roads  and  bridges,  and  the  whitening  anew  of  sepulchres. 
It  was  also  a  specially  busy  time  in  the  matter  of  cere- 
monial and  other  kinds  of  purification.  In  modern 
days,  also,  elaborate  preparation  in  the  home  is  the 
rule.  This  begins  some  considerable  time  before  the 
date  of  the  festival.  The  house  is  turned  out  from 
top  to  bottom,  and  every  particle  of  leaven  that  can 
be  discovered  is  carefully  removed.  This  has  given 
rise  to  an  interesting  ceremony.  After  the  cleansing 
process  has  been  completed,  on  the  evening  which  begins 
the  14th  of  Nisan  (i.e.  the  evening  preceding  the  festival), 
the  head  of  the  family  (or  his  representative)  proceeds 
to  make  a  formal  search  throughout  the  house,  with  a 

1  See  pp.  322  ff. 

2  "  Seder  "  =  "  order,"  "service";  the  home-festival  of  the 
first  two  nights  (consisting  of  a  banquet  with  reUgious  ceremonial) 
is  so  described. 


DESTRUCTION   OF   LEAVEN  357 

lighted  candle  for  leaven.^  Every  nook  and  corner  is 
thoroughly  investigated,  and  it  is  customary  to  make 
a  point  of  having  a  little  leaven  available  in  order  that 
it  may  be  "  discovered  "  and  then  placed  in  some  con- 
venient spot  till  the  morning.  After  the  first  meal  of 
the  morning  all  leaven  must  be  removed,  i.e.  as  Dr. 
Friedliinder  explains,  either  sold,  or  given  as  a  present 
to  a  non-Israelite  or  destroyed.  This  is  known  as 
Bi'iir-chdmets  ("  Destruction  or  removal  of  leaven  "). 
The  formal  search,  like  the  performance  of  other  religious 
duties,  is  preceded  by  a  blessing  :  "  Blessed  art  Thou, 
O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe,  Who  hast  sanctified 
us  by  Thy  commandments,  and  hast  commanded  us 
concerning  the  removal  of  leaven."  ^ 

After  the  completion  of  the  search  in  the  evening, 
the  following  declaration  is  uttered  (in  Aramaic)  : — 

All  leaven  that  is  in  my  house  which  I  have  not  seen,  and 

have  not  removed,  I  declare  annulled,  and  to  be  of  no  more 

worth  to  me  than  the  dust  of  the  earth. 

The  next  morning  all  leaven  (reserved  or  otherwise) 
is  solemnly  burnt  after  breakfast,  and  a  similar  declaration 
is  made.  Henceforth,  no  leaven  is  tolerated  in  the 
house  during  the  rest  of  the  festival  ;  and  unleavened 
cakes  only  are  eaten  in  place  of  leavened  bread. ^ 

Another  important  part  of  the  preparation  consists 
in  the  provision  of  "  kosher  "  utensils  (i.e.,  utensils 
free  from  contact  with  chamets  or  "  leaven  ")  for  use 
during  the  festival.  This  means  either  that  a  brand- 
new  set  of  vessels  is  provided,  or  a  set  that  is  specially 
kept  for  Passover-purposes  is  brought  out.     In    some 

•  The  technical  name  for  this  is  hedikaih  chamets,  "search  for 
leaven."     Cf.  Zeph.   i'^'. 

-  This  is  said,  of  course,  in  Hebrew  (as  are  all  the  prayers 
quoted.     Some,  however,  are  written  in  Aramaic). 

^  Hence  the  name  "Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,"  frequently 
used  in  the  Gospels.  Possibly  the  Passover  and  the  "Feast  of 
Unleavened  Bread  "  were  originally  regarded  as  distinct  festivals 
(so  among  the  Samaritans  at  the  present  day).  But  in  the 
Jewish  observance  the  distinction  has  disappeared. 


358    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

cases  vessels  that  have  been  in  ordinary  use  may  be 
employed,  but  only  after  having  undergone  a  drastic 
process  of  ritual  cleansing.  During  the  afternoon  the 
table  is  prepared  for  the  Seder-meo},  which  is  begun 
after  the  return  of  the  male  members  of  the  family  from 
the  Synagogue.  The  arrangement  and  furnishing  of 
this  are  described  below. 

ii.  The  Home-Festival  {Seder). 

The  most  interesting  and  important  feature  of  the 
Passover  is  the  service  celebrated  at  home  on  the  first 
two  nights  of  the  festival.      This  is  known  as  the  "  Seder." 

As  already  mentioned,  the  preparation  of  the  Seder- 
table  and  the  room  or  rooms  to  be  used  takes  place  in 
the  afternoon.  The  table  is  set  in  the  following  manner  : 
At  the  head,  immediately  in  front  of  the  celebrant,  is 
the  Seder-dish.  On  this  are  placed  three  large,  specially 
baked,  unleavened  cakes  {matsoth  ;  pronounced  "  motsos  " 
by  the  Ashkenazic  Jews),  each  wrapped  up  in  a  cloth  ; 
and  on  top  of  these  a  hard-boiled  egg,  a  roasted  shank- 
bone,  "  charoseth  "  (a  mixture  of  scraped  apples  and 
almonds  or  nuts  with  raisins  and  cinnamon),  a  saucer 
with  salt  water  and  bitter  herbs  (horse-radish)  and 
parsley  {moror="  bitter  ").  The  table  is  also  furnished 
with  wine  and  cups,  glasses,  or  goblets  for  each  person, 
an  extra  cup  being  provided  for  the  Prophet  Elijah, 
in  case  of  his  sudden  arrival.  Large  chairs  with  cushions 
or  pillows  are  also  set  for  the  master  (or  celebrant) 
and  mistress  of  the  house  (but  not  always  for  the  latter). 
Each  of  these  elements  possesses  a  symbolical  significance. 
Thus,  of  the  three  unleavened  cakes,  two  are  explained 
to  represent  the  "  double  portion  "  of  Sabbath  and 
Holy  Day,  while  the  third  represents  the  "  bread  of 
poverty."  "  The  bread  of  poverty  is  intended  to  remind 
us  of  the  bread  of  poverty  or  affliction  eaten  by  our 
forefathers  when  kept  as  slaves  in  Egypt."  ' 


Friedlander,  Jewish  Religion,  p.  380,  note. 


I'lu-  /\issov,r    i„bh    Spirnd 


To  face  p.  358 


THE   "HAGGADAH"  359 

The  "  bitter  herbs  "  {moror)  are  emblematic  of  the 
hard  service  of  the  Israehtes  in  Egypt.  The  "  charoseth," 
on  account  of  its  brown  colour,  is  representative  of  the 
clay  out  of  which  Israehtes  made  bricks.^  The  shank- 
bone  is  a  relic  of  the  paschal  lamb  ;  and  the  hard-boiled 
egg  stands  for  the  daily  free-will  offering  {chagtgah) 
brought  during  the  festival  to  the  Temple. 

During  the  S^t/^r-service  each  person  present  drinks 
four  cups  of  wine.  The  wine  generally  employed  is 
made  of  raisins  (unfermented).  But  now  Palestine 
wine  is  frequently  used. 

In  broad  outline,  the  service  proceeds  as  follows. 
It  is  opened  by  the  sanctification  of  the  day  {Kiddush), 
after  which  the  first  cup  of  wine  is  drunk  ;  then  follow 
the  washing  of  the  hands  ^  and  the  distribution  to  all 
present  of  some  parsley  and  lettuce  which  is  eaten  with 
a  blessing.  The  "  afikoman  "  is  set  aside  ;  and  (after 
the  shank-bone  and  egg  have  been  temporarily  removed) 
the  Seder-dish  is  taken  hold  of  by  the  company,  who, 
on  lifting  it,  utter  an  invitation  to  all  who  are  needy 
to  share  in  the  festival.  Then  follow  the  questions 
by  the  youngest  child  present,  which  introduce  the 
reply.  This  is  the  HaggadCih  proper,  or  "  telhng  forth  " 
in  narrative  form,  with  comments,  stories,  and  explana- 
tions interspersed,  of  the  history  of  Israel's  slavery  in 
Egypt,  the  Exodus,  and  the  birth  of  the  nation.  The 
Haggddah  proper  is  concluded  by  the  recitation  of  the 
hrst  part  of  the  Hallel  (Pss.  113,  114),  after  which 
the  second  cup  of  wine  (the  "  cup  of  the  Haggddah  ") 
is  drunk.  The  washing  of  the  hands  ^  (preparatory 
to  the  partaking  of  the  meal)  now  follows,  after  which 

1  This  is  the  popular  explanation.  In  fact,  the  "charoseth  " 
is  a  kind  of  Oriental  sauce  used  with  such  edibles  as  bitter  herbs. 
Into  it  the  horse-radish  should  be  dipped.  The  Rabbis  speak  of 
it  as  an  antidote  against  possible  ill  effects  of  the  bitter  herbs. 

*  By  the  celebrant  only. 

^  By  all  the  company. 


360    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  two  unleavened  cakes  are  distributed  in  small  portions 
to  the  company,  and  partaken  of  ;  also  the  "  bitter 
herbs "  (horse-radish)  dipped  in  the  "  charoseth." 
"  Hillel's  ceremony  "  concludes  this  part  of  the  service. 
The  evening  meal  (or  banquet)  is  then  partaken  of, 
followed,  of  course,  by  the  usual  "  Grace  after  meals  " 
which  finishes  with  the  drinking  of  the  third  cup  of 
wine.  Before  Grace  is  said,  however,  the  "  afikoman  " 
is  distributed  to  those  present. 

After  Grace,  the  door  is  opened,  the  fourth  cup  of 
wine  filled,  the  concluding  part  of  the  Hallel  (Pss.  115-118) 
and  the  "  Great  Hallel  "  (Ps.  136)  recited,  and  also  the 
"  Benediction  of  Song." 

The  proceedings  are  brought  to  an  end  by  the  singing 
of  certain  popular  poetical  pieces,  which  will  be  enumerated 
below. 

Such  is  the  Seder-service  in  broad  outline.  It  remains 
to  explain  more  fully  some  of  the  more  striking  and 
interesting  features.  As  will  have  been  seen,  the  actual 
sequence  is  somewhat  complicated.  Even  the  Jews 
have  felt  this,  and  have  recourse  to  a  series  of  rhymed 
(Hebrew)  catchwords  to  remind  them  of  the  correct 
ordering  of  the  ceremonial.  These  translated  are  as 
follows  :  (i)  sancify  ;  (2)  wash  ;  (3)  greens  ;  (4)  divide  ; 
(5)  tells ;  (6)  washing ;  (7)  brings  forth  unleavened ; 
(8)  bitter  ;  (9)  wraps  ;  (10)  the  table  set ;  (11)  laid  aside  ; 
(12)  Grace  ;  (13)  Hallel ;  (14)  accepted.  It  will  be 
convenient  in  setting  forth  further  details  to  follow  the 
numbered  programme  given  above. ^ 

(i)  The  first  cup  of  the  Passover  is  the  Kiddush 
cup,  by  which  both  Sabbaths  and  the  festivals  are 
sanctified. 

(2)  The  celebrant  only  at  this  point  washes  his  hands 

1  The  full  Haggdddh  service  can  easily  be  obtained  in  Hebrew 
and  English.  Citations  are  here  made  from  the  edition  edited 
by  the  Rev.  A.  A.  Green  with  notes  {The  Revised  Hagada). 
London  :  Greenberg  &  Co. 


THE    "  SEDER  "-SERVICE  361 

to  qualify  him   for  his  priestly  functions  for  the  time 
being. 

(3)  At  this  point  parsley  is  dipped  in  salt  water  and  dis- 
tributed by  the  celebrant,  who  utters  a  blessing,  and  the 
company  partake.  The  parsley  so  dipped  is  supposed 
to  represent  the  hyssop  dipped  in  blood  (Exod.  12  ^'^). 

(4)  The  celebrant  now  "  breaks  in  two  the  middle 
matsah  (unleavened  cake) ,  leaving  one  half  on  the  Seder- 
dish,  and  placing  the  other  half  aside  as  the  "  afikoman  " 
(Green).  The  last  word,  which  appears  in  the  Mishnah 
in  a  Hebrew  dress,  is  clearly  Greek,  and  may  mean 
"  the  aftermeal  entertainment,"  or  "  what  comes  later  " 
{ephikomenon),  i.e.  dessert.'  At  any  rate,  the  portion 
so  broken  off  is  "  hidden  "  for  the  time  being  (placed 
under  the  pillow  of  the  celebrant's  chair),  and  afterwards 
broken  and  distributed,  and  eaten  by  the  company 
as  the  last  morsel. ^  Sometimes,  apparently,  the  afikoman 
is  preserved  until  the  following  year,  and  then  burnt 
with  the  leaven  on  the  eve  of  the  next  Passover. 

After  the  reservation  of  the  afikoman,  the  shank-bone 
and  egg  are  removed  from  the  Seder-diish.,  which  is  then 
taken  hold  of  by  the  company,  and  elevated,  the  following 
formula  being  recited  : 

"  This  is  the  bread  of  affliction  which  our  fathers  did  eat  in 
the  hind  of  Egypt  !  Let  all  who  are  hungry  come  in  and  eat  ; 
let  all  who  require  come  in  and  celebrate  the  Passover.  This 
year  here — next  year  in  the  land  of  Israel !  This  year  as 
slaves — next  year  free!  "  ^ 

(5)  The  shank-bone  and  egg  are  now  replaced,  and 

1  eppiqoman  =  perhaps  i-^i  KUfiov  comessatum  ire. 

*  The  custom  is  probably  a  survival  of  an  earlier  time,  when 
a  part  of  the  paschal  lamb  was  reserved  till  the  end  of  the  feast, 
and  then  distributed  in  morsels  to  be  eaten,  in  order  that  the  lamb 
should  be  the  last  thing  actually  tasted.  The  curious  custom 
of  the  children  "  snatching  "  the  afikoman,  and  then  getting  it 
redeemed  by  presents,  is  based  upon  a  mistranslation  of  a  passage 
in  the  Talmud  (see  Green,  p.  25,  note). 

*  The  formula  is  in  Aramaic,  and  dates  from  the  early  years  of 
stress  in  exile  during  the  Roman  period. 


362    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  youngest  child  present  proceeds  to  ask  the  question 
as  to  the  pecuHarities  of  this  night  as  distinguished 
from  other  nights.*  Then  follows  the  telling  [haggdddh) 
by  way  of  response.     It  begins  : 

We  were  slaves  to  Pharaoh  in  Egj^pt,  and  the  Lord  our 
God  brought  us  forth  from  thence  with  a  strong  hand  and 
an  outstretched  arm,  etc.   (cf.  Green,  pp.  27  ff.). 

The  material  of  the  "  narration  "  is  varied  and  inter- 
esting, but  too  long  to  quote.  It  ranges  over  the  four 
kinds  of  sons — the  wise,  the  wicked,  the  simple,  and 
the  infant— the  questions  they  ask,  and  the  rephes 
appropriate  to  them,  suggested  by  several  passages  in 
the  Law  ;  ^  followed  by  an  edifying  discourse  on  the 
providential  ordering  of  Israel's  history,  by  which  they  were 
led  from  the  idolatry  of  ancestors  to  the  worship  of  the 
true  God,  through  wonderful  experiences  (Green,  pp. 
33  ff.),  with  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of  all  the  benefits 
so  conferred.^  Some  Rabbinic  explanations  of  the 
meaning  of  the  Passover  and  the  significance  of  the 
unleavened  bread  and  bitter  herbs  bring  the  Haggdddh 
towards  its  concluding  outburst  of  praise  in  the  recitation 
of  the  first  part  of  the  Hallel  *  (Pss.  113,  114). 

>  One  of  the  most  interesting  features  in  these  is  the  remark  : 
"  On  all  other  nights  we  take  our  meal  either  sitting  or  reclining  ; 
but  on  this  night  we  all  recline."  This  goes  back  to  the  Oriental 
banquet  with  couches  on  three  sides  of  the  table,  across  which  the 
guests  reclined,  leaning  on  the  left  elbow  (cf.  St.  John,  1323-"). 

^  One  main  aim  in  the  Passover  Haggdddh  is  to  impress,  by  an 
object  lesson,  on  the  minds  of  the  children,  Israel's  consciousness 
of  its  wonderful  history  and  destiny. 

«  This  is  embodied  in  a  composition  with  a  refrain  in  which 
all  join,  "  It  would  have  suf&ced  !  "  [dayyenu).  It  begins  :  "  If 
He  had  brought  us  out  from  Egypt,  and  not  executed  judgments 
upon  the  Egyptians — it  would  have  sufficed !  If  He  had 
executed  judgments  upon  the  Egyptians  and  not  upon  their 
gods — it  would  have  sufficed  !  "  etc.  (see  Green,  p.  45  f.). 

*  The  Hallel  was  sung  in  the  Temple  during  the  slaughter  of 
the  paschal  lambs  by  the  priests.  Possibly  the  division  of  the 
Hallel  (part  before,  and  the  rest  after,  the  family  meal)  is  due 
to  the  idea  that  the  family  meal  now  takes  the  place  of  the  old 
Passover  family  sacrifice  (see  Green,  p.   50  note). 


THE    "  SEDER  "-SERVICE  363 

Then  follows  the  drinking  of  the  second  cup,  the  "  cup 
of  the  Hagguddh." 

(6)  All  the  guests  wash  their  hands  at  this  point  as 
the  preliminary  to  the  meal. 

(7)  The  celebrant  now  breaks  the  first  and  second 
unleavened  cakes,  and  distributes  pieces  to  all  present. 
These  are  eaten  after  the  recitation  of  the  blessing. 

(8)  A  piece  of  horse-radish  (the  "  bitter  herbs  ")  dipped 
in  the  "  charoseth  "  is  distributed  to  each  person,  and 
eaten  after  the  appropriate  blessing, 

(9)  "  Wraps."  A  curious  ceremony,  known  as  "  Hillel's 
ceremony,"  follows.  The  celebrant  breaks  up  the 
third  unleavened  cake,  cuts  shoes  of  the  horse-radish, 
places  them  between  two  pieces  of  the  unleavened  cake 
(forming  a  sandwich),  and  distributes  to  each  person 
saying  :  "  In  memory  of  the  Temple  hke  Hillel.  Thus 
did  Hillel  when  the  Temple  stood.  He  used  to  wrap 
together  pieces  of  Passover  lamb,  unleavened  bread, 
and  bitter  herbs,  and  eat  them  together  ;  in  order  to 
fulfil  what  is  written  :  '  upon  unleavened  cakes  and 
bitter  herbs  ye  shall  eat  it '  "  (Ex.  12^). 

(10)  The  evening  meal  is  then  served.  This  usually 
means  a  long  array  of  courses  of  dishes  which  are  specially 
favoured  by  Jews,  and  are  quite  strange  to  the  average 
"  goy  "  (Gentile),  such  as  soup  and  fish  prepared  in 
curious  ways,  etc. 

(11)  At  the  conclusion  of  this  the  afikotnan  is  dis- 
tributed in  pieces  to  the  guests,  and  eaten  as  explained 
above, 

(12)  Grace  is  then  said  (see  Green,  pp.  59  ff.),  and 
the  third  cup  of  wine— the  "  Cup  of  Blessing  " — is 
drunk. 

(13)  The  door  is  then  opened,  and  certain  imprecatory 
verses  from  the  Psalms  and  Lamentations  are  recited 
(Ps.  79  «,'  ;  6925 ;  Lam.  3««),  beginning  :  "  Pour  out 
Thy  wrath  upon  the  nations  who  know  Thee  not,"  etc. 

In  reality,  this  seems  to  be  a  relic  of  the  old  banqueting 


364    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

customs  of  the  Oriental  Jews.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  feast,  after  Grace,  the  doors  were  opened  to  allow 
of  the  departure  of  guests  who  were  on  a  journey.  The 
imprecatory  verses  form  really  no  part  of  the  original 
Haggddah  service  ;  they  were  added  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
when  the  Passover-festival  became  associated  with  such 
terrible  danger  and  persecution  from  Christians. 

After  this,  the  fourth  cup  of  wine  is  filled,  the  rest 
of  the  "  Hallel  "  recited  (including  the  "  Great  Hallel  "), 
and  the  Benediction  of  Song  (beginning  "  The  breath 
of  every  Hving  being,"  etc.,  Green,  p.  79). 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  in  the  Liturgy  of  the  Portuguese 
Jews,  and  formerly  in  that  of  the  Germans,  the  fourth 
cup  was  blessed  and  drunk.  Now,  however,  the  Germans 
insert  some  poetical  pieces  before  the  drinking  of  the 
fourth  cup,  viz.,  "  And  it  came  to  pass  at  midnight  " 
(Green,  pp.  83-87),  on  the  first  night  ;  and  on  the  second, 
one  beginning  "  Ye  shall  say  it  is  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Passover,"  each  line  ending  with  the  word  Pesach  (Pass- 
over) (Green,  pp.  87-91),  and  a  curious  alphabetic  song, 
with  the  refrain  ki  16  nd'eh  {"  For  to  Him  [praise]  is  due  "). 
The  fourth  cup  is  then  drunk. 

(14)  A  prayer  for  the  divine  acceptance  of  the  service 
follows  {nirtsdh — accepted),  (see  Green,  p.  95).  To  this 
the  German  Jews  add  three  popular  songs  or  hymns  ; 
the  first  beginning  "  O  mighty  God  !  rebuild  Thy  house 
speedily  "  (Green,  p.  97)  ;  the  next  "  Who  knoweth 
just  One  ?  I  know  One — One  is  the  God  of  the  world. 
Who  knoweth  just  two,"  etc.  (Green,  p.  99  f.)  ;  and  the 
last  and  most  popular  of  all  "  Chad  Gadya,^  One  only 
kid,  one  only  kid  "  (Green,  p.  105  f.).  All  are  sung  to 
traditional  music. ^ 

The  last  mentioned  is  a  variation  on  the  popular 
folk-song  "  The  House  that  Jack  built."     Its  last  clause 

1  "  Chad  Gadya  "  is  the   title  of  an  exquisite  sketch  in  Mr.  I. 
Zangwill's  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto  (pp.  453  fl.). 
*  This  is  given  in  Green  p,p.    108  ff. 


"CHAD   GADYA"  365 

runs  :  "  Then  came  the  Holy  One — Blessed  be  He — and 
slaughtered  the  Angel  of  Death,  who  slaughtered  the 
butcher,  who  slaughtered  the  ox,  who  drank  up  the 
water,  which  quenched  the  fire,  that  burnt  the  stick, 
which  beat  the  dog,  that  bit  the  cat,  that  ate  the  kid 
which  my  father  bought  for  two  zuzim.  One  only  kid, 
one  only  kid  !  " 

The  following  explanation  is  given  of  this  curious 
adaptation.  "  Our  Father  in  Heaven  bought  the  kid 
Israel  with  the  blood  of  circumcision  and  the  blood  of 
the  Passover.  The  kid  was  swallowed  by  the  cat  Egypt. 
Egypt  was  conquered  by  Babylon  (the  dog)  ;  both 
(Egypt  and  Babylon)  by  the  Medes  and  Persians  (the 
stick)  ;  these  by  the  fiery  Alexander ;  Alexander's 
empire  by  Rome,  which,  like  water,  overspread  the 
whole  world  ;  Rome,  as  mistress  of  Palestine,  was  sup- 
planted by  the  ox,  the  Saracens."  ^  Possibly  the 
butcher  may  stand  for  the  Crusaders,  and  the  Angel  of 
Death  for  the  hoped-for  deliverance  from  their  cruelties. 
If  so,  the  piece  may  have  been  composed  during  the 
existence  of  the  Latin  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

iii.     The  Passover  Synagogue-Services. 

There  are,  of  course,  festal  services  ^  in  the  Synagogue 
at  Passover,  with  a  full  complement  of  offices  (evening, 
morning,  additional,  and  afternoon  prayer).  The  morning 
service  is  distinguished  by  the  reading  of  special  lessons 
from  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  ;  and  the  Hallel  is  sung. 
A  series  of  special  lessons  is  read  consecutively  in  the 
services  during  the  eight  days.  On  the  first  Sabbath 
after  the  first  two  days  of  Passover  it  is  customary  to 
read  Canticles  in  the  service.  This  custom — which 
arose  after  theTalmudic  period  apparently — was  suggested 
by  the  verse  (2^^)  :  "  Behold  the  winter  is  gone."  The 
allegorical  interpretation  of  the  Book,  however,  has  had 

*  Dembitz  op.  cit.  p.  365. 

2  The  full  services  can  be  seen  in  the  larger  (Festival)  Prayer- 
Books  {Mach^orim). 


366    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

some  influence  in  this  connexion,  the  idea  suggested 
being  the  betrothal  of  Israel  to  God.  The  coming  of  the 
Passover  season  is  heralded  by  the  Sabbath  which 
immediately  precedes  or  falls  on  the  first  of  Nisan  (called 
Shahhath  ha-chodesh).  The  special  lesson  from  the 
Pentateuch  read  on  this  occasion  is  Ex.  i2^~2o  -which 
deals  with  the  commandment  about  celebrating  Passover  ; 
the  prophetic  lesson  is  Ezek.  451^-46^^  (description  of 
the  sacrifices  of  Nisan  I,  Passover,  and  other  feasts  in 
the  future  Temple).  The  Sabbath  immediately  preceding 
Passover  is  called  "  the  great  Sabbath  " — for  what 
reason  it  is  unknown. 

II.     Pentecost  (Weeks). 

i.   The  Counting  of  the  Onier. 

The  interval  between  Passover  and  Pentecost  is  termed 
"  the  days  of  the  counting  "  (Heb.  yeme  ha-sefirah) , 
owing  to  a  curious  custom  which  is  inaugurated  on  the 
eve  of  the  second  day  of  Passover,  immediately  after 
the  evening  service.  It  is  based  upon  the  following 
injunction  contained  in  Lev.  23^^,^^  : 

And  ye  shall  count  unto  you  from  the  morrow  after  the 
Sabbath,  1  from  the  day  that  ye  brought  the  omer  {E.V. 
"  sheaf  ")  of  the  wave-offering,  seven  Sabbaths  shall  yecom- 
I>lete;  even  unto  the  morrow  after  the  seventh  Sabbath 
shall  ye  number  fifty  days. 

The  word  "  omer  "  usually  has  the  meaning  "  sheaf  " 
in  Hebrew.  But  it  is  also  the  name  of  a  measure  (cf. 
Ex.  16^**),  containing  about  half  a  gallon,  and  is  so 
interpreted  here  by  the  Rabbis,  who  regard  the  "  wave- 
offering  "  of  the  passage  as  having  consisted  not  of  a 
sheaf,  but  of  an  omer  of  grain  (barley). 


1  i.e.,  according  to  the  Rabbinical  view,  from  the  second  day 
of  Passover,  the  first  day  being  regarded  as  "  the  Sabbath." 
According  to  another  ancient  view,  "  the  Sabbath  "  here  =  the 
Saturday  after  the  Passover  Feast. 


PENTECOST  367 

The  "  counting  "  now  takes  place  during  this  interval 
in  the  Sjmagogue.     It  is  preceded  by  a  blessing,  thus  : 

Blessed  art  Thou  .  .  .  Who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy 
commandments  and  hast  commanded  us  to  count  the  days 
of  the  Omcr. 

The  formula  used  is  :    "  This  is  the day  since  the 

Omer."  After  a  week  has  elapsed  the  number  of  weeks 
as  well  as  of  days  is  specified.  In  this  way  forty-nine 
days  are  "  counted,"  the  fiftieth  being  Pentecost. 
During  the  greater  part  of  this  period  marriage  and 
festivities  are  prohibited,  perhaps  because  the  month 
lyar,  which  roughly  corresponds  to  May,  may  have 
been  popularly  regarded,  as  like  the  latter,  an  unlucky 
season  for  marriages.  What  looks  like  a  later  explana- 
tion is  that  the  period  is  full  of  sad  memories  of  Jewish 
massacres  (in  the  time  of  Hadrian  and  the  Crusades). 
The  33rd  day  of  the  Omer  ( =  lyar  18)  is,  however,  not 
one  of  the  prohibited  days.  According  to  tradition,  a 
plague  that  had  raged  among  R.  Akiba's  disciples  was 
stayed  on  this  day  ;  hence  it  is  called  "  the  scholar's 
festival."  On  the  three  days  immediately  preceding 
Pentecost  ^  also  marriage  celebrations  are  permitted. 

ii.  The  Feast  of  Weeks  (Pentecost). 

The  "  Feast  of  Weeks  "  (Heb.  Shabuoth)  is  celebrated 
on  the  50th  day  of  the  Omer  (hence  its  name  "  Pentecost," 
a  Greek  word  "fiftieth,"),  and  now  on  the  following 
day  also,  i.e.,  Sivan  6  and  7.  In  the  Bible — where,  of 
course,  a  festival  of  one  day  only  is  referred  to — it  is 
described  as  "the  feast  of  Harvest"  (Ex.  23^*),  and 
"  the  day  of  the  First-Fruits  "  (Num.  282«).  It  really 
marked  the  close  of  the  grain-harvest,  which  in  Palestine 
lasted  seven  weeks  (from  Passover  to  Pentecost).  In  the 
modern  Synagogue  the  harvest-character  of  the  festival 
is  suggested  by  decorations  of  trees,  plants  and  flowers. 

*  Called  "  the  three  days  of  the  bounds,"  in  allusion  to  Ex. 
igii.i*  (the  three  days'  preparation  before  Mt.  Sinai.  The  law- 
giving is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  at  Pentecost). 


368    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

The  "  Feast  of  Weeks  "  is  also  regarded  as  the  Feast 
of  Revelation — "  the  season  of  the  giving  of  our  Law  " — 
because  according  to  tradition  the  Law-giving  on  Sinai 
took  place  on  the  6th  day  of  the  third  month  (i.e.  Sivan). 
This  tradition,  however,  cannot  be  really  ancient,  as  it 
is  not  alluded  to  either  by  Philo  or  Josephus. 

The  special  lessons  are:  ist  day,  Ex.  19-20  (account 
of  the  Law-giving  on  Sinai)  and  Ezek.  i  (revelation  of 
God's  glory)  ;  2nd  day,  Deut.  151^-161'  and  Hab.  3. 
The  Book  of  Ruth  is  also  read,  no  doubt  originally 
because  it  contains  a  beautiful  harvest-idyll.  Jewish 
homes  are  also  often  decorated  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Synagogues  at  this  season.  By  the  Reform  Congregations 
(especially  in  the  United  States)  Pentecost,  as  being 
the  traditional  birthday  of  Judaism,  has  been  selected 
for  administering  "  confirmation  "  to  Jewish  girls  in 
the  Synagogue. 


III.    Tabernacles  (Sukkoth). 

The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  commences  on  the  15th 
of  Tisri  (five  days  after  the  Day  of  Atonement) ,  and  lasts 
seven  days.  Of  these  the  first  two  (Tisri  15  and  16) 
are  full  festival  days,  the  last  five  (Tisri  17-21)  half- 
holidays.  The  "  eighth  day  "  Festival  [Shemini  'Atsereih), 
which  like  other  festival  days  is  doubled  (Tisri  22  and 
23 — the  second  day  in  this  case  is  called  Simchath  To  rah), 
closes  the  celebration.  The  whole  nine  days  bear  one 
descriptive  designation,  "  season  of  our  rejoicing."  The 
festival  is  one  of  venerable  antiquity.  Its  observance 
is  commanded  in  the  Mosaic  Law  (Lev.  23^^),  and  its 
purpose  is  there  explained  as  to  commemorate  the  way 
in  which  the  Israehtes  dwelt  in  booths  {sukkoth)  during 
their  journey  through  the  wilderness. 

Every  Jew  who  owns  a  court  or  garden  is  required 
to  erect  a  booth,  or  something  more  or  less  equivalent, 
and  to  dwell  in  it — or  at  least  have  meals  in  it — while 


"  SUKKOTH  "  369 

the  feast  lasts.  In  order  that  the  character  of  the  original 
booth  may  as  far  as  possible  be  retained,  the  modern 
counterpart  is  very  lightly  constructed.  It  "  must 
not  be  covered  with  fixed  boards  and  beams  or  with 
canvas,  but  with  detached  branches  of  trees,  plants, 
flowers,  and  leaves,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  covering 
is  not  quite  impenetrable  to  wind  and  rain  ;  or  starlight  " 
(Friedlander).  The  booths  are  required  to  be  made 
during  the  days  that  intervene  between  the  Day  of 
Atonement  and  the  Feast  itself ;  they  are  adorned 
with  garlands,  flowers,  and  the  hke  ;  often  the  text 
"Ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven  days"  (Lev.  23*^), 
is  displayed  in  a  prominent  place  within  the  booth. 
On  the  eve  of  the  Feast  the  members  of  the  household 
attend  Synagogue,  and  on  returning  assemble  in  their 
booth  and  partake  of  a  meal.  On  this  evening  (the 
first  of  the  Feast)  the  meal  (as  in  the  case  of  the  weekly 
Sabbath  on  Friday  evening  ^)  is  preceded  by  Kidddsh 
or  the  solemn  sanctification,  first  over  a  cup  of  wine 
which  is  then  handed  round,  all  drinking  of  it,  and  then 
over  two  wheaten  loaves,  specially  baked  and  placed 
on  the  table  covered  with  a  cloth  ;  these  the  head  of 
the  family  then  proceeds  to  cut  into  pieces,  which  are 
distributed  to  and  eaten  by  all  present. ^  A  special 
blessing — which  is  repeated  before  every  meal  during 
the  seven  days — follows  ("  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord.  .  .  . 
Who  hast  commanded  us  to  dwell  in  a  booth").  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  meal,  and  on  leaving  the  booth, 
the  following  prayer  is  said  by  the  head  of  the 
household. 

May  it  please  Thee,  O  Lord  my  God,  and  God  of  my 
fathers,  that  in  Uke  manner  as  I  have  this  time  obeyed  Thy 
command,  and   have  been   sitting  in   the  booth,  so  in  the 


1  Cf.  pp.  346  fif. 

*  Kiddiish  is  repeated    at    the  meal  on    the  eve    of    Sheimni 
Atsercth  (Tisri  22). 


370    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

coming  year  I  may  be  counted  worthy  to  sit  in  the  booth 
of  Leviathan.  1 

The  next  morning  the  whole  family  repairs  to  the 
Synagogue.  In  the  Synagogue  the  ancient  and  original 
character  of  the  celebration  as  a  Harvest  Festival — the 
"  Feast  of  Ingathering,"  or  thanksgiving  for  the  gathered 
produce  of  the  fields  and  gardens — is  prominent  in 
various  ways.  The  Synagogue  itself  is  decorated  with 
plants  and  fruits ;  and  there  are  the  palm-branch  proces- 
sions. These  take  place  after  the  "  additional  "  {musaf) 
service,  which  follows  morning  prayer  (on  Sabbaths 
and  holy  days).  Every  day  of  the  seven  is  provided 
with  this  service  and  the  processions,  which  culminate 
on  the  seventh  day  {Hosha'na  Rahba). 

The  pahn-branch  (liilab)  is  prepared  in  accordance  with 
Lev.  23  "  :  "  And  ye  shall  take  unto  you  on  the  first  day 
the  fruit  of  the  goodly  tree,  branches  of  palm-trees,  and 
boughs  of  thick-leaved  trees,  and  willows  of  the  brook,  and 
ye  shall  rejoice  before  the  Lord  your  God  seven  days."  The 
lulab  accordingly  is  invested  at  its  lower  end  with  myrtle 
branches  and  branches  of  the  willow.  These  are  attached  to 
the  lulab  by  means  of  palm-leaves. 

The  worshipper  takes  the  palm-branch  {lulab)  in  the 
right  hand,  and  the  ethrog  or  citron  (fixed  in  a  metal 
receptacle)  in  the  left,  reciting  as  he  does  so  the  following 
blessings  (the  second  blessing  is  only  said  on  the  first 
day  of  the  Festival)  : 

(i)  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Uni- 
verse, Who  hast  sanctified  us  with  Thy  commandments, 
and  commanded  us  to  take  up  the  palm-branch. 

(2)  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Uni- 
verse, Who  hast  preserved  us  alive,  sustained  us,  and  brought 
us  to  enjoy  this  season. 

1  The  Leviathan  plays  a  prominent  part  in  haggadic  legend, 
especially  in  connexion  with  the  messianic  time.  The  monster 
is  to  be  killed  and  the  flesh  is  to  furnish  food  for  the  righteous 
(at  the  messianic  banquet) .  From  the  hide  tents  will  be  made  by 
God  for  the  pious  of  the  first  rank.  This  last  feature  will  explain 
the  allusion  in  the  text  of  the  prayer  above. 


i-A' 


JOYOUS   CHARACTER   OF   "  SUKKOTH  "     371 

These  are  lifted  up  during  the  recitation  of  the  Hallel 
(Pss.  113-118)  in  morning  prayer.  At  the  end  of  the 
Miisaf  or  "  Additional  "  prayer  the  scroll  of  the  Law 
is  taken  from  the  Ark  to  the  reading-desk,  a  procession 
is  formed,  and  the  worshippers,  with  the  citron  and  palm- 
branch,  make  a  circuit  while  certain  prayers  called 
"  Hosannas "  {Hosha  anoth)  are  recited.  These  are 
introduced  as  follows  : 

For  Thy  sake,  O  our  God,  save  now  (Hosanna)  ! 

For  Thy  sake,  O  our  Creator,  save  now  ! 

For  Thy  sake,  O  our  Redeemer,  save  now  ! 

For  Thy  sake,  O  Thou  who  seekest  for  us,  save  now  ! 

The  processions,  however,  do  not  take  place  on  the 
Sabbath  that  intervenes  in  the  festival  :  nor  are  the 
palm-branch  and  citron  handled  on  that  day,  the  carrying 
of  these  being  regarded  as  a  form  of  work. 

The  joyous  character  of  the  festival  finds  its  fullest 
expression  on  the  seventh  day,  the  popular  name 
of  which  is  Hosha  na  Rahha  ("The  great  Hosanna"). 
It  is  so  called  because  the  exclamation  "  Hosanna," 
and  the  "  Hosanna-processions  "  are  much  more  frequent 
than  on  the  preceding  six  days.^  On  this  day,  after 
the  Additional  Prayer  [Musaf),  not  merely  one  scroll 
(as  on  the  previous  days)  but  all  are  taken  from  the  Ark, 
and  seven  processions  take  place  round  the  whole  Syna- 
gogue, a  separate  "  hosanna  "  hymn  being  sung  each 
time,  and  the  scrolls  being  borne  by  different  worshippers 
in  each  of  the  processions. ^ 

At  the  completion  of  the  processions,  the  worshippers 
being  now  in  their  places,  the  lulah  is  laid  aside  and  the 


»  The  joyous  character  of  this  ancient  popular  holiday  has 
always  been  so  marked  that  the  framers  of  the  Jewish  Calendar- 
year  found  it  necessaiy  to  devise  a  rule  for  preventing  its  falling  on 
the  Sabbath.     Cf.  above,  p.  323. 

*  Or  else  they  are  taken  to  the  Reader's  desk  and  there  held 
in  an  upright  position  (the  procession  encircling  the  Turah  as 
it  formerly  did  the  altar).  See  I.  Abrahams,  Festival  Studies,  p.  15, 
and  cf.  the  illustration  on  the  opposite  page. 


372    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

willow-bunch  ^  taken  up,  and  a  few  more  poetical  pieces 
are  said.  All  join  in  the  messianic  hymn  beginning 
"  A  voice  brings  glad  tidings,  brings  glad  tidings  and 
says."  Then  with  the  utterance  of  a  petition  for  forgive- 
ness of  sins  each  shakes  or  strikes  the  willow-bunch  on 
the  desk  before  him  till  its  leaves  fall  off,  and  throws  it 
away. 

It  should  be  added  that  in  accordance  with  an  ancient 
pious  custom  many  Jews  have  a  watch  on  the  eve  of 
this  Festival.  The  watchers  meet  socially  and  read  Deu- 
teronomy, the  entire  Psalter  and  passages  from  the  Zohar 
(with  Kabbahstic  prayers).  In  the  intervals  of  these 
exercises  they  eat  cakes,  fruits,  and  other  refreshments. 

The  recitation  of  the  Hallel,  the  waving  of  the  lulah  during 
this,  the  "  Hosanna  "  processions  with  lalab  and  eUwog  and  the 
Hosha'na  Rabba  ceremonies  (including  the  willow  bunch)  are 
all  survivals  of  the  great  ceremonies  connected  with  the  "water- 
drawing  "  which  distinguished  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  in 
the  time  of  the  Temple.  The  ritual  is  described  in  the  Mish- 
nah  (Stikkah  iv  and  v).  "A  golden  pitcher  holding  three 
logs  >vas  filled  by  a  priest  with  water  from  Siloam  and  brought 
through  the  water-gate,  the  multitude  reciting  Is.  12'.  Amid 
trumpet  blasts  the  water  was  poured  simultaneously  with  a 
libation  of  wine  into  a  tube  in  the  altar,  through  which  it 
flowed  mingling  with  the  libation  of  wine  by  an  underground 
passage  to  the  Kidron."  ^  The  season  was  one  of  great 
festivity,  notably  on  the  evening  at  the  end  of  the  first  day 
when  in  the  brilliantly  illuminated  ^  Court  of  the  Women  there 
was  a  torch  dance,  to  the  accompaniment  of  singing  and 
music,  lasting  till  early  morning,  in  which  the  leading  Israelites 
took  part.  The  libation  of  water  was  probably  founded 
upon  very  ancient  practice,  being  regarded  as  symbolical 
of  rain,  with  which  Tabernacles  was  associated.  Of  this 
ceremony  and  its  accompaniments  the  Mishnah  {Stikk.  v,  i) 
says  :    "he  who  has  not  seen  the  joy  of  the  water-drawing 

'  The  willow-bunch  (which  is  distinct  from  the  liilab)  is  pre- 
pared the  night  before  and  taken  to  the  Synagogue  for  the  morn- 
ing-service. It  is  made  up  of  five  small  willow-twigs  tied  together, 
and  is  popularly  known  as  "  Hosha'na,"  being  peculiar  to  this 
day  {Hoslia'na  Rabba). 

*  JE,  xi,  661. 

'  The  great  golden  candelabra  in  the  court  of  the  women  were 
lit  on  this  night.     There  may  be  an  allusion  to  this  in  St.  John  812. 


ww^ 


tma^'^^^^WM 


"SIMCHATH   TORAH"  373 

has  never  seen  joy  in  his  Hfc."  During  the  feast  the  hbation 
of  water  was  made  each  day  at  the  time  of  the  morning  sacri- 
fice, and  it  is  to  this  custom  that  our  Lord  impHcitly  refers 
in  St.  John  7^'  ("  If  any  man  thirst  let  him  come  unto  me 
and  drink  ").  On  each  day  of  the  first  six  there  was  a 
procession  round  the  altar  ;  on  the  seventh  day,  seven.  The 
willow-branches  were  also  a  great  feature.  In  the  Temple 
they  were  placed  round  the  altar,  the  Shofar  was  blown, 
and  the  priests  encircled  the  altar,  hdah  in  hand  and  singing 
averse  from  the  Hallel :  "  I  pray,  O  Lord,  save  now  {hoshianna) ! 
I  pray,  O  Lord,  give  success  now  !  "  In  the  Portuguese 
Synagogues  similarly  it  is  customaiy  to  sound  the  shofar 
during  the  processions  on  IlosJia'na  Rabba.  This  also  may 
be  a  reminiscence  of  the  Temple  usage.  1 

In  some  Synagogues  it  is  customary  to  erect  a  booth 
similar  to  the  one  erected  at  home. 

The  seven  days  of  Tabernacles  are  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  the  "  eighth-day  Festival  "  {Shemmi  Atsereth) 
(Tisri  22)  and  its  double,  which  has  received  the  special 
name  of  Simchath  Tor  ah  "  Rejoicing  of  the  Law  "  (Tisri 
23).  No  special  ceremonial  in  the  Synagogue -services 
marks  the  former  of  these  days.  The  Hallel  is  recited 
in  its  full  form  and  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  is  read 
from  a  scroll.  The  memorial  for  the  dead  [hazkarath 
ncshamoth)  is  also  made  in  the  morning  service.^  On 
the  eve  of  the  day,  after  the  Synagogue-service,  the  sanc- 
tification  {Kiddush)  is  said  at  home,  often  in  the  booth, 
which  is  continued  in  use  this  day  and  the  next.  The 
following  evening  the  Feast  of  the  "  Rejoicing  of  the 
Law  "  begins.  This  is  usually  the  occasion  for  much 
boisterous  mirth. 

The  festival  is  post-Biblical  in  origin,  and  in  fact  did  not 
become  a  fixed  institution  till  the  one-year  cycle  of  lections  from 
the  Pentateuch  had  become  firmly  established. 

The  distinctive  feature  of  the  day  is  the  processions 


»  It  has  now,  however,  acquired  other  associations,  and  is 
regarded  as  intended  to  give  "  those  who  have  not  become 
thoroughly  reconciled  with  God  on  the  Atonement-Day  a  last 
opportunity  of  repentance  before  the  final  judgment  of  God  is 
sealed  "  (Rosenau,  Jew.  Cer.,  p.  99  f.). 

'  Cf.  above,  pp.  339  ff. 


374    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

with  the  scrolls  of  the  Law  in  the  morning  service.  All 
the  scrolls  are  taken  out  of  the  Ark,  a  hghted  candle 
being  left  in  their  place.  A  procession,  headed  by  the 
Reader,  who  is  followed  by  the  men  bearing  the  scrolls, 
is  formed,  and  all  sing  : 

We  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  save  now  ! 

We  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  give  success  now  ! 

We  beseech  Thee,  O  Lord,  answer  us  when  we  call  ! 

When  one  circuit  has  been  completed  other  men 
are  invited  to  carry  a  scroll  during  the  next  round,  and 
so  en.  After  the  procession  has  been  finished  all  but 
three  scrolls  are  returned  to  the  Ark  and  the  regular 
reading  of  the  lessons  begins. 

"  A  Cohen  is  first  called  '  with  all  the  priests  '  ;    they  all 

come  to  the  platform  and  say  the  benedictions  together  ; 

then  a  Levite  is  called  '  with  all  the  Levites.'     Then  others 

are  called,  have  short  passages  read  to  them  in  chap.  33  of 

Deuteronomy  ;    these  same  passages  being  read  over  and 

over  again  until  none  are  left  uncalled  but  the  three  neeied 

to  finish  Deuteronomy,  to  read  in  Genesis,  and  to  act  as 

maftir  [i.e.,  to  read  the  prophetic  lesson]  "  (Dembitz).     The 

names  given  to  the  one  who  read  ;  the  last  section  of  Deut. 

("Bridegroom  of  the  Law  ")  and  to  him  who  begins  to  read 

Genesis    ("  Bridegroom    of    Genesis  ")    have    already  been 

explained  (see  p.  353). 

These  ceremonies  are  in  many  of  the  German  Synagogues 

anticipated    the    previous    evening.     Towards    the    end 

of  the  evening  service,  contrary  to  all  rules,  the  scrolls 

are  taken  out  of  the  ark,  and  carried  about  in  procession, 

men  and  boys  joining  in   (the  latter  with  paper  flags 

representing  the  twelve  tribes  and  burning  tapers),    and 

singing  the  hymns  proper  to  the  following  morning  service. 

While   this  is   proceeding  the   women   throw  nuts    and 

raisins  from  the  galleries.     This  is  essentially  the  children's 

part  of  the  Festival.     In  some  places  it  has  also    been 

customary  for  the  children  to  tear  down  the    "  booths  " 

(sukkoth),  and  bum  them  on  Simchath  Tor  ah. 

IV.  Dedication  (Chanukkah). 
The  Feast  of   Chanukkah,  or  Dedication,  like  that  of 


"  CHANUKKAH  "  375 

Purim,  is  associated  with  a  historical  anniversary,  and 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  Torah.  It  commemorates  the 
victories  of  the  Maccabees  over  the  tyrant  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  and  more  especially  the  re-dedication  of  the 
Temple  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  in  164  B.C.  After  the 
Temple  had  been  purified,  a  new  altar  of  burnt-offering 
built,  and  new  holy  vessels  made,  the  fire  was  kindled 
on  the  altar,  the  lamps  of  the  candlestick  lit,  and  the 
re-dedication  of  the  altar  celebrated  for  eight  days, 
(i  Maccab.  4^^).  This  celebration  has  points  of  contact 
with  that  of  Tabernacles,  which  also  lasted  eight  days 
and  at  which  lights  were  a  prominent  feature.  According 
to  Josephus  the  popular  name  for  ChanukkaJi\wa.s  (pcora  = 
"  Festival  of  Lights."  Another  of  its  names  is  "  Feast 
of  the  Asmoncans."  It  is  referred  to  in  St.  John  lo^^  as 
"  the  feast  of  the  dedication  "   {ra  eyKalvia). 

It  begins  on  the  25th  of  Kislev  and  lasts  eight  days 
(till  Tebeth  2),  and  is  celebrated  by  the  kindling  of 
lights  (wax  tapers  or  lamps  ^)  on  every  evening  of  the 
festival.  On  the  eve  of  the  first  day  one  light  only 
is  kindled  ;  on  the  second  two,  and  so  on  up  to  eight 
on  the  eve  of  the  eighth  day. 

This  ceremony  is  more  particularly  distinctive  of  the  home, 
but  also  takes  place  in  the  Synagogue,  every  congregation 
possessing  a  candelabrum  of  burnished  brass  or  silver  for 
this  purpose.  It  is  traditionally  based  on  the  miracle  which 
is  said  to  have  occurred  at  the  purification  of  the  Temple. 
When  the  time  came  for  re-lighting  the  "  continual  lamp  " 
only  a  small  cruse  of  the  consecrated  oil  could  be'  found,  suffi- 
cient for  one  day's  supply.  It,  however,  miraculously  lasted 
eight  days  till  a  fresh  supply  could  be  prepared.  According 
to  the  Talmud  it  was  a  disputed  point  between  the  schools 
of  Hillel  and  Shammai  whether  the  lights  should  ascend  in 
number  from  one  to  eight  (Hillel)  or  begin  with  eight  and 
decrease  to  one  (Shammai). 

The  lighting  of  the  Chanukkah-\a.mp  is  the  feature 
of  principal  importance  in  the  Festival.     The  original 


1  Properly  a  lamp  should    be  used,  but  now  wa.x   tapers  are 
commonly  employed. 


376    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

object  of  this  was  the  festive  illumination  of  the  house 
outside.  The  Ughts  were  to  be  set  up  near  the  door 
opening  into  the  street,  or  (if  there  were  more  than  one 
such  door)  in  front  of  each.  Only  when  it  was  too 
dangerous  (in  times  of  persecution)  were  they  to  be  re- 
moved within.  Their  original  purpose  was  further 
emphasized  by  the  injunction  that  they  were  not  to  be 
used  for  reading  purposes  [Shabb.  2i''-23''). 

The  number  of  lamps  or  candles  was  determined  by 
the  number  of  male  persons  in  the  house.  In  old-fashioned 
Jewish  homes  it  is  still  "  quite  usual.  ,  .  to  furnish  to 
each  boy  his  own  set  of  them,  one  for  the  first  night, 
two  for  the  next,  and  so  on  to  the  eighth.  .  .  The  lamps 
or  candles  are  set  near  a  window,  where  people  in  the 
street  may  see  them,  soon  after  dark  before  the  streets 
are  deserted,  all  to  '  publish  the  miracle.'  "  ^ 

When  the  Chanukkah-light  is  kindled  the  following 
Blessings  are  chanted  by  the  persc»n  who  kindles,  and 
those  who  see  it  kindled  : 

(i)  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Uni- 
verse, Who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments,  and 
commanded  us  to  kindle  the  Chanukkah-lamp. 

(2)  Blessed  art  Thou,  etc.  .  .  .  Who  didst  work  miracles 
for  our  fathers,  in  those  days  at  this  season. 

(3)  2  Blessed  art  thou,  etc Who  hast  let  us  live, 

and  sustained  us,  and  caused  us  to  reach  this  season. 

A  hymn  of  praise  is  then  sung  extolling  God's  deliver- 
ances.=>  The  C/iafa/JtA^ah-lam-ps  (or  candelabra)  have  been 
elaborately  developed  in  many  artistic  waj^s.  Many  fine 
specimens  of  work  in  this  form  exist.  Provision  is 
made  for  eight  lights,  and  also  another,  distinct  from  the 
rest,  known  as  "  shamash,"  the  "  attendant  "  light. 
This  last  served  as  the  lighter  for  the  others  (it  being  unlawful 
to  kindle  one  C/ta;iukhi/i-\igh.t  from  another).  It  was  also 
(in  theory)  the  light  that  was  "  used  "  for  the  ordinarj'- 
purposes  of  seeing  or  reading.  The  C/ta/iu^ia/i-\ights  were 
intended  solely  for  festive  illumination.^ 


1  Dembitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  337.        «  (^^  is  only  said  the  first  night. 
3  Cf.  Singer,  p.  275  ("  O  Fortress  Rock  of  my  Salvation  "). 
*  Cf.  Singer,  p.  274   ("  We  kindle  these  lights,"  etc.). 


"  CHANUKKAH  "-LIGHTS  377 

In  most  modern  Jewish  houses,  where  Chanukkah 
is  observed,  the  Chanukka h-lights  are  reserved  for  the 
interior  of  the  house  and  the  purely  domestic  character 
of  the  festival  is  prominent.  It  is  especially  a  women's 
festival.  As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  no  "  profane  " 
use  was  to  be  made  of  the  lights — no  ordinary  work 
was  to  be  done  by  them.  Consequently  games  (especially 
card-games)  riddles,  and  other  pastimes  were  indulged 
in  on  Chanukkah-cvcnings.  Women  and  girls  were 
even  encouraged  to  "  kindle  "  Chanukkah  lights  for 
themselves.  Children,  also,  share  prominently  in  the 
festivities,  being  regaled  with  stories  and  presents.  The 
first  and  last  days  are  devoted  more  particularly  to  these 
forms  of  festivity.  The  poor  are  also  remembered  at 
this  time,  even  begging  from  door  to  door  (which  is 
not  tolerated  at  other  times)  being  allowed. 

In  the  Synagogue  Chanukkah  is  marked  by  one  or 
two  special  features.  As  has  already  been  mentioned 
the  Channkkah-\a.mp  is  kindled  in  the  Synagogue,  as 
well  as  the  home,  each  evening.  This  is  followed 
by  the  chanting  of  Ps.  30,  which,  as  its  title  shows  ("  A 
Song  at  the  Dedication  of  the  House  "),  was  specially 
appropriated  to  this  celebration.^  In  the  morning  service 
for  each  of  the  eight  days  the  Hallel  is  chanted  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  Amidah  (cf.  Singer,  p.  142  bottom). 
Not  improbably  the  Hallel,  i.e.  Vss.  ii3-ii8,was  compiled 
in  its  present  form  for  this  festival.  In  the  Jewish 
Liturgy  it  is  treated  as  a  single  composition,  being  pre- 
ceded by  a  special  blessing  (cf.  Singer,  p.  219  f).  There 
is  also  a  special  paragraph  in  the  Thanksgiving-Benediction 
of  the  Amidah-pTixyeT,^  which  refers  to  the  Maccabean 
triumphs.  During  the  eight  days  of  the  feast  also 
special  lessons  are  read  ;    they  are  taken  from  Num. 

1  Cf.  Singer,  p.  274.  It  was  sung  by  the  Levites  in  the  Temple 
at  this  Feast. 

"  See  Singer,  pp.  51-52  ("  We  thank  Thee  also  for  the  miracles, 
etc.).     It  is  known  as  "  al  ha-nissim  ("for  the  miracles"). 


378    SYNACxOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

7-8*  (account  of  the  gifts  given  at  the  dedication  of 
the  altar  of  the  tabernacle  ;  S^"*  refers  to  the  kindhng 
of  the  lights  of  the  holy  candlestick).  If  a  Sabbath 
occurs  within  the  festival  Zech.  2i""37  (the  vision  of 
the  golden  candlestick)  is  read  as  the  prophetic  lesson 
{Haftarah)  ;  if  a  second  Sabbath  should  occur  i  Kings 
y 40-50  (the  dedication  of  Solomon's  Temple)  is  also 
read  as  the  Haflarah. 

V.   "PURIM." 

The  Feast  of  Ptirini  (i.e.  according  to  the  Bibhcal 
explanation  "  lots  ")  is  celebrated  on  Adar  14,  or  in  a 
leap-year,  on  the  14th  day  of  "  Second  Adar  "  Mn  com- 
memoration of  the  wonderful  deliverance  of  the  Persian 
Jews  from  the  machinations  of  Haman,  as  recorded 
in  the  Book  of  Esther. 2  As  is  already  apparent  in  the 
Book  of  Esther  itself  the  Festival  is  pervaded  by  a 
secular  rather  than  a  religious  spirit,  and  this  character 
has  always  distinguished  it.  It  is  the  carnival  of  modem 
Jewry. 

Nevertheless  the  day  has  received  religious  recognition 
in  the  Synagogue -services,  a  development  which  must 
have  come  comparatively  early,  as  the  presence  of  the 
Book  of  Esther  in  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
sufficiently  attests.  The  reading  of  the  "scroll  "  {Mcgillah) 
as  the  Book  of  Esther  is  termed  par  excellence,  is,  in  fact, 
the  oldest  and  most  prominent  feature  in  the  Synagogue- 
services  for  the  day.  The  entire  text  is  cantillated  at 
evening  and  again  at  morning  prayer. 

1  Adar  is  the  12th  month;  "second  Adar"  the  intercalated 
13th  month.  When  the  latter  occurs  the  14th  of  first  Adar  is 
called  "  little  Purim  "  {Purim  Katan)  and  is  marked  by  certain 
observances. 

*  In  Shushan,  Persia,  it  is  observed  on  Adar  15,  in  accordance 
with  Esther  91 »,  which  day  consequently  is  called"  Shushan  Purim." 
See  further  on  the  real  significance  of  this,/£,  xi,  i6;(s.v.  Shushan 
Purim) . 


"  PURIM  "  379 

The  text  is  invariably  chanted  by  the  precentor  from  a 
parchment  scroll  (not  from  a  printed  book)  which  must  have 
been  carefully  prepared  and  written  by  a  Jewish  scribe  in 
accordance  with  certain  rules.  The  chanting  is  also  set  to 
a  special  melody.  The  congregation  follows  the  cantillation 
in  printed  texts. 

The  reading  of  the  Mcgillah  is  preceded  by  the  following 
blessings  : 

(i)  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
Who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments,  and  hast 
commanded  us  concerning  the  reading  of  the  Megillah. 

(2)  Blessed  art  Thou.  O  Lord  our  God,  etc.,  ....  Who 
wroughtest  miracles  for  our  fathers  in  days  of  old,  at  this 
seaison. 

A  third  blessing,  and  also  one  after  the  reading,  follow  ; 
these  can  be  seen  in  Singer,  p.  276  f. 

On  the  eve  of  the  Feast  ^  it  is  customary  to  have 
a  money  collection  in  the  Synagogue.  A  plate  or 
basket  is  placed  in  the  Synagogue  for  the  purpose.  The 
proceeds  are  sometimes  given  to  the  precentor,  sometimes 
distributed  among  the  poor. 

It  is,  however,  on  its  social  side  that  the  festival  has 
developed  its  most  remarkable  features.  The  Book 
of  Esther  enjoins  that  the  celebration  shall  be  one  "  of 
feasting  and  joy  and  of  sending  portions  one  to  another, 
and  gifts  to  the  poor."  Accordingly  it  is  a  time  specially 
marked  by  the  exchange  of  presents  (known  as  "  shiloach 
manoth  "  =  "  sending  of  gifts").  "On  the  eve  of  the 
festival  the  table  in  many  a  home  is  set  with  sweets 
for  visitors,  more  especially  for  masquers,  who  in  every 
community  go  from  home  to  home  in  large  numbers 
on  this  holiday.  On  Purim,  too,  card-playing  is  freely 
indulged  in."  ^  Masquerading — boys  and  girls  going 
from  house  to  house  in  grotesque  masques  singing  comic 
songs — is  an  importation  from  the  Roman  carnival. 
It  still  prevails  among  the  Jews  of  Eastern  Europe. 
Feasting,    which   takes   the   form   of   a   Purim-banquet, 


1  Purim  can  never  occur  on  a  Sabbath. 
*  Rosenau,  op.  cit.  p.  130. 


380    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

is  naturally  a  feature.  Its  jovial  character  is  marked, 
the  breach  of  all  ordinary  rules  being  permitted.  In 
fact  restraints  of  all  kinds  seem  to  be  suspended  on 
this  day,  the  spirit  of  boisterousness  even  invading  the 
Synagogue  itself  (it  takes  such  forms  as  hissing,  stamping, 
rattling  the  Purim-rattle  at  the  mention  of  Haman's 
name).  Outside  the  Synagogue  the  spirit  of  exuberant 
mirth  has  expended  itself  in  such  activities  as  burning 
Haman's  effigy,  etc'  The  Purim  play  has  also  enjoyed 
great  popularity  and  assumed  many  forms  from  Geonic 
down  to  modern  days. 


^  For  many  interesting  details  on  this  side  of  the  subject,  see 
Abrahams,  Jewish  Life  in  Middle  Ages,  and  Festival  Studies. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

The  Solemn  Days  and  Fasts. 

The  New  Year  and  Day  of  Atonement — The  Blowing  of  the  Shofar — 
Meaning  of  the  New  Year  Celebration — Significance  of  the  Day 
of  Atonement — The  Fasts— Significance  of  Fasting — Private  and 
Public  Fasts. 

I.   The  Solemn  Days   (New  Year  and  the   Day  of 

Atonement)  . 

The  Jewish  Year — the  New  Year  of  the  Synagogue — ■ 
opens  with  a  penitential  period  consisting  of  ten  days. 
These  are  known  as  "  the  ten  days  of  penitence  "  {"  asdrdh 
yemi  teshbuhah),  and  also  as  "solemn  days"  [ydmin 
nora'im).^  The  latter  term,  however,  is  applied  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  beginning  and  end  of  this  ten-day  period,  i.e. 
to  New  Year  (Tisri  i  and  2),  and  the  Day  of  Atonement 
(Tisri  10).  But  the  "  solemn  days "  themselves  are 
heralded  by  certain  distinct  observances  and  devotional 
exercises  which  serve  to  prepare  the  way  for  what  may 
not  altogether  inaptly  be  regarded  as  the  "  Jewish 
Advent  season."  These  are  {a)  The  blowing  of  the 
Shofar  or  ram's  horn,  and  {h)  The  recitation  of  certain 
special  prayers  immediately  before  or  after  the  daily 
service,  which  are  called  Selichoth,  i.e.,  "  Litanies  or 
Prayers  of  Forgiveness." 

In  the  Ashkenazic  Synagogues  the  Shofar  is  blown, 
on  week-days  (not  on  Sabbaths)  during  the  whole  month 
of  Ellul  (i.e.  the  month  immediately  preceding  Tisri)  at 
the  close  of  the  morning  service ;  and,  in  some  Synagogues, 
in  the  evening  service  as  well.  But  it  is  not  blown  in  the 
Portuguese  Synagogues  before  the  ten  penitential  days. 

In  the  Sefardic  ritual  the  place  of  the  Shofar-hlowmg 

*  Lit.=  "  awful  days." 

381 


382     SYNAGOGUE    RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

is  taken  by  the  Selichoth  prayers,  which  are  recited  during 
the  whole  month  of  Ellul,  and  are  continued  morning 
and  evening  until  the  Day  of  Atonement.  Among  the 
Germans  the  Selichoth  are  only  recited  during  the  morning 
service,  beginning  but  a  few  days  (a  week  at  most) 
before  the  New  Year,  and  ending  on  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment. These  prayers,  together  with  certain  verses  and 
the  shorter  confession,  are  usually  said  very  early  in  the 
morning,  before  the  regular  morning  service.  Hence 
these  days  are  known  as  Seltchuth-days.  Dembitz  also 
mentions  that  "  in  many  places  in  Germany  there  are 
still  ascetics  who  carry  on  a  similar  service  on  every  week- 
day of  the  year  not  marked  as  joyous  or  festive.  This 
service  is  known  as  Shomer  labboker  (watchmen  of  the 
morning)."  ' 

II.  The  New  Year  (Rosh  Ha-  Shanah). 

The  New  Year  is  kept  on  the  first  two  days  of  Tisri, 
which  is  the  seventh  month  according  to  Biblical  reckoning. 
Its  characteristic  Jewish  name  is  Rosh  ha-shanah,  i.e.  New 
Year.2  This  name  only  occurs  once  in  the  Old  Testament, 
viz.  Ezek.  40^,  but  in  that  passage  it  is  apphed  not  to  New 
Year's  Day,  but  to  the  beginning  of  the  Year,  which  in 
the  context  covers  the  first  ten  days  of  the  year.  The 
name  Rosh  ha-shanah  is,  however,  applied  in  the  Mishnah 
to  the  first  day  (as  in  modern  usage),  and  is  there  used  in 
this  connexion  as  a  title  of  long  standing. ^ 

In  the  Bible  the  New  Moon  (i.e.  the  first  day)  of  Tisri 
is  specially  distinguished  from  ordinary  new  moon  days. 
It  is  bracketed  with  the  Day  of  Atonement  as  "  a  holy 
convocation,"  on  which  "  no  servile  work  "  was  to  be 
performed — in  other  words,  as  possessing  a  specially 
solemn  sabbatic  character.  It  is  specially  designated 
as    yom   tem'dh,"   i.e.    "  Day   of    Shofar-b lowing,"   and 


Jewish  Services,  p.   173.  «  Lit.   "  head  of  the  year.' 

Cf.  the  Mishnith  tract  Rosh  ha-shdndh  et  al. 


"  TERU'AH  "  383 

zikron  tenVah,"  i.e.,  "  memory  of  Shofar  blowing  "  (cf. 
Num.  29^  and  23^*)  ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
by  the  Synagogue  the  Psalmist's  injunction  (Ps.  81^), 
Blow  ye  the  trumpet  in  the  New  Moon  ;  on  our  solemn  feast 
day,  is  interpreted  to  refer  to  the  new  moon  of  the 
seventh  month,  i.e.  the  first  of  Tisri.  But  why  should  the 
beginning  of  the  seventh  month  have  been  singled  out 
for  such  special  honour  ?  Because  it  marked  the  begin- 
ning of  the  civil  year.  According  to  the  Mishnah  ^  it 
was  in  the  month  of  Tisri  that  the  year  of  Jubilee  began, 
that  slaves  were  hberated,  and  landed  property  returned 
to  its  original  owners.  It  should  be  mentioned,  however, 
that  on  ordinar}^  new  moon  celebrations  of  the  Bible  the 
ram's  horn  was  blown  when  the  special  sacrifices  for  the 
day  were  offered  ;  in  the  New  Year's  Festival,  however, 
tlie  S  ho  far  was  blown  throughout  the  whole  day.  In  the 
modern  Synagogue  the  blowing  of  the  Shdfdr  is  still  the 
cliaracteristic  feature  of  the  day.  As  a  rule,  it  is  blown 
during  the  morning  service  before  the  sefcr  torah  (scroll 
of  the  Law)  is  returned  to  the  Ark,  and  also  during  the 
Musaf  (or  additional)  service. 

The  name  Teru'ah,  which  the  Synagogue  regards  as 
the  special  Scriptural  name  of  the  Festival,  denotes  the 
sound  of  an  alarm,  and  is  regarded  as  an  awakening  or 
reminding.  According  to  the  Jewish  commentator, 
Saadya,  it  reminds  of  the  following  ten  things,  with  which 
it  is  directly  or  indirectly  connected  :  (i)  Creation  ;  (2) 
The  duty  to  return  to  God  ;  (3)  Revelation  on  Mount 
Sinai  ;  (4)  The  exhortations  of  the  Prophets  ;  (5)  Des- 
truction of  the  Temple  ;  (6)  The  binding  of  Isaac  for 
sacrifice;  (7)  Imminent  danger;  (8)  Day  of  Judgment ; 
(q)  Redemption  of  Israel  ;  (10)  Resurrection.  Its  main 
thought  is  to  call  man  to  repentance  :  but,  at  the  same 
time,  it  also  serves  to  carry  to  God's  throne  the  cry  that 
evokes  His  grace  and  mercy. 

1  Cf.  Rosh  ha-shundh  I,   i. 


384    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

These  points  are  beautifully  brought  out  in  the  following 
prayer  said  before  Teru'dh  : — 

Thou  hast  (aforetime)  heard  my  voice,  O  hide  not  thine  ear 
at  my  breathing,  at  my  cry  (Lam.  3*^).  May  it  please  Thee, 
O  Lord  my  God,  the  God  of  judgment,  that  now  it  be  an 
acceptable  time  before  Thee,  and  that  Thou  in  the  multi- 
tude of  Thy  mercies  and  loving-kindness  wilt  vouchsafe  to 
rend  all  the  veils  which  make  a  separation  this  day  between 
Thee  and  Thy  people  Israel  ;  and  to  send  away  all  who 
slander  and  reproach  us.  Shut  the  mouth  of  Satan  that  he 
accuse  us  not,  for  on  Thee  our  eyes  are  hanging.  I  will  exalt 
Thee  my  God,  the  King,  the  God  of  judgment.  Hear  the 
voice  of  the  prayers  and  Terii'oth  of  Israel  Thy  people,  this 
day  in  mercy.     Amen. 

The  proper  and  special  place  for  the  horn-blowing  is 
after  the  4th,  5th  and  6th  Benedictions  of  the  Shemoneh 
'Esreh  or  Tefilldh  for  the  Additional  {orMusdf)  service  of 
the  New  Year.  This  service  has  a  special  form  for  the 
New  Year.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  "  Additional  " 
is  now  run  on  to  the  ordinary  morning  service,  following 
soon  after  the  Prophetic  Lesson  of  morning  prayer  for 
Sabbaths  and  festivals.  But  it  was  felt  to  be  necessary 
to  find  a  place  in  the  service  for  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
for  the  performance  of  this  special  duty — the  givings  of 
thanks  for  special  ceremonies  and  pious  acts  (like  the 
"  laying  of  the  Tefdlin,"  e.g.)  being  a  common  feature 
in  the  Jewish  prayers.  Such  a  prayer,  however,  could 
not  be  introduced  in  the  solemn  TcfiUah,  without  inter- 
rupting it.  Hence  the  blowing  of  the  SJiofdr  has  been 
introduced  into  an  earlier  part  of  the  service,  viz.,  soon 
after  the  reading  of  the  Prophetic  lesson.  After  a  Psalm 
(such  as  the  47th)  has  been  sung,  or  appropriate  verses 
read,  the  man  chosen  to  blow  the  Shufdr  slowly  chants 
the  following  Benediction  : 

Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe, 
who  hast  sanctified  us  by  Thy  commandments,  and  hast 
commanded  us  to  hear  the  sound  of  the  Shofar.  Blessed 
art  Thou,  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  Universe,  who  hast 
let  us  live,  and  kept  us  up,  and   hast  made  us  reach  this 


FEAST   OF  TRUMPETS  385 

The  blower  (called  Tokeah)  then  proceeds  (under  the 
direction  of  the  Chazzan)  to  make  his  first  series  of 
thirty  blasts  or  "  pulses."  These  are  interspersed  with 
prayers.  Each  series  of  blasts  is  given  in  response  to  the 
command  of  the  Chazzan.  The  last  command  given  is 
called  a  "Great  Sounding"  (Teki'dh  gedoldh),  and  in 
obedience  to  it  the  performer  produces  notes  louder  and 
more  prolonged.     He  then  says  the  following  : 

Happy  are  the  people  that  know  the  Teru'ah,  Lord,  in  the 
light  of  Thy  countenance  they  walk  (Ps.  89**). 

The  people  repeat  this  after  him,  and  then  the  ordinary 
service  proceeds. 

It  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  explained  at  this  point  that  the 
Shdf'ir  as  now  used  is  really  a  horn  and  not  a  trumpet. 
It  is  a  ram's  horn  without  mouthpiece,  "sharply  bent  at 
the  broad  side  near  the  base  ...  so  as  to  double  the 
column  of  air  "  (Dembitz).  According  to  the  Jewish 
Year  Book,  it  only  emits  "  very  primitive  and  ear-piercing 
sounds  "  ;  in  any  case  it  is  very  difficult  to  perform  on  it 
at  all  successfully,  and  as  the  performer  is  often  chosen 
for  his  piety  principally — and  piety  and  skill  together  are 
not  always  available — the  result  is  sometimes  somewhat 
pecuHar.^ 

One  of  the  best  known  names  of  the  New  Year  celebra- 
tion is  that  of  Feast  of  Trumpets.  In  the  Synagogue 
prayers,  two  other  names  also  occur,  viz..  Day  of  Memorial 
{Ydni  zikkdron)  and  Day  of  Judgment  [Yom  Din) — both 
emphasizing  aspects  of  the  season  that  will  be  explained 
presently.  Before  attention  is  called  to  the  special  prayers 
that  mark  the  services  of  the  day,  the  arrangement  of  its 
Services  must  be  briefly  indicated. 


1  In  the  ancient  Synagogue  the  Shofdv  was  also  used  to  proclaim 
to  the  assembled  congregation  public  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation. Excommunication  was,  strictly,  a  punishment  of  the 
Synagogue  ;  hence  the  New  Testament  term  for  it  is  put  out 
of  the  Synagogue.     St.  John  9*' ;   12". 

26-(24i7) 


386    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

First  of  all  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  New 
Year  is  now  celebrated  on  two  days,  viz.,  Tisri  ist  and  2nd. 
Both  are  regarded  as  solemn  days  of  rest,  and  accordingly 
have  besides  the  ordinary  evening,  morning  and  afternoon 
prayer,  an  Additional  service  of  Prayer  {Musdj)  following 
on  morning  prayer  ;  also  the  first  day  is  inaugurated  by 
a  special  form  of  Kiddush  (for  New  Year  Kiddush,  cf. 
Singer,  p.  243).  Supposing  that  the  New  Year  does  not 
fall  on  a  Sabbath  (Saturday),  the  ordinary  service  is  said 
for  evening  (Singer,  p.  95  ff.),  morning  (Singer,  p.  i  ff.), 
and  afternoon  (Singer,  p.  94  f.)  the  only  difference  being 
that  a  special  form  of  Ami dah-FTa.yer  is  substituted  for 
the  ordinary  one.  The  Additional  Service  for  New  Year 
(which  runs  on  after  the  morning)  has  also  a  special 
form  of  Amidah.  ' 

In  order  to  grasp  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
celebration  it  is  necessary  to  get  some  notion  of  the 
structure  of  these  special  forms. 

On  week-days,  as  has  already  been  explained  in 
Chapter  xvii,  the  Amidah  Prayer  consists  of  nineteen 
separate  benedictions  ;  but  on  Sabbaths  and  days  of 
rest  (such  as  the  Festivals  and  solemn  days),  only  the 
first  three  and  last  three  of  these  are  (in  a  modified  form) 
recited,  the  middle  thirteen  being  replaced  by  an  entirely 
new  benediction  called  the  Sanctity  of  the  Day.  The 
form  of  this  varies  according  to  the  particular  festival  ; 
further,  if  the  Festival  happens  to  coincide  with  a 
Sabbath,  other  modifications  take  place.  This  middle 
paragraph,  with  the  proper  modifications  for  the  New 
Year's  services  (evening,  morning  and  afternoon)  can 
be  read  in  Singer,  p.  240  ff.  It  begins  :  "  Thou  hast 
chosen  us  from  all  peoples."  To  this  the  reader  must 
be  referred. 

A  remarkable  feature,  characteristic  of  the  New  Year's 
services,  and  in  fact  of  all  the  daily  services  for  the  ten 


'  This  is  discussed  below,  pp.   397  ff. 


"ABINU    MALKENU"  387 

"  days  of  penitence  "  is  that  t4ie  recital  of  the  Amidah 
Prayer  which  has  just  been  described,  is  concluded 
(except  on  the  Sabbath)  by  a  striking  prayer  containing 
forty-four  petitions,  each  beginning  with  the  words 
"Our  Father,  our  King"  {Abimt  Malkcnu).  This  so  well 
brings  out  the  penitential  note  which  marks  the  New  Year 
services,  that  it  is  worth  while  to  consider  it  a  little 
more  closely.  It  will  be  found  set  forth  in  Singer,  pp  55  ff . 
From  it,  and  the  other  New  Year  prayers,  some  striking 
parallels  to  the  opening  clauses  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
may  be  gathered. 

Thus  in  illustration  of  the  clauses  : 
Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven, 
Hallowed  be  Thy  name  ; 
Thy  Kingdom  come  : 
note  some  of  the  following  : 

Our  Father,  our  King,  we  have  sinned  before  Thee, 
Our  Father,  our  King,  we  have  none  other  King  but 

Thee, 
Our  Father,  our  King,  renew  us  a  good  year. 
Our   Father,    our   King,    bring   us   back   before    Thee 

in  perfect  repentance. 
Our  Father,  our  King    vouchsafe  to  write  us  in  the 

Book  of  Redemption. 
Our  Father,  our  King,  hear  us,  though  no  good  works 
of  our  own  be  in  us. 
We  will  sanctify  also  Thy  name  throughout  the  world    0 
God,  the  God  of  our  Fathers,  reign  Thou  over  the  whole 
world  in  Thy  glory. 

In  one  respect  the  Abinu  Prayer  strikingly  differs  from 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  The  latter  opens  with  words  and 
thoughts  concerning  God's  glory,  and  reserves  for  later 
petitions  acknowledgment  of  human  sin  and  frailty,  and 
prayers  for  pardon.  Our  own  Anghcan  services,  however, 
especially  IMattins  and  Evensong,  agree  with  the  AbUiil 
in  beginning  with  Scriptural  calls  to  repentance  and  the 
general  confession. 


388     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

But  the  most  characteristic  prayers  in  the  New  Year 
services  are  the  special  Benedictions  inserted  in  the 
middle  of  the  Amidah  Prayer  of  the  Additional  Services. 
These  constitute  three  paragraphs  known  as  kingdoms 
{malkiyyoth)  remembrances  [zikronoth)  and  horn-blowings 
(Shofaroih),  after  each  of  which  the  S  ho  far  is  blown. 

Kingdoms  is  so  called  because  it  contains  verses  of 
Scriptural  passages  in  which  God  is  recognized  as  King. 
It  can  be  read  in  Singer,  p.  245  f.,  beginning  :  "  But 
on  account  of  our  sins  we  were  exiled  from  our  land,"  etc. 

Remembrances  is  similarly  made  up  of  verses  in  which 
God  is  shown  to  be  mindful  of  mankind,  and  especially 
of  Israel. 

The  last  of  these  sections — that  known  as  ShofdrSth — 
is  made  up  of  verses  in  which  the  Shofdr  is  named  literally, 
or  metaphorically,  in  passages  where,  as  it  were,  God 
sounds,  in  thunder-notes,  a  call  to  Israel  or  mankind. 

Of  the  three  paragraphs  just  mentioned,  the  most 
striking  is  the  middle  one — Remembrances.  It  can  be 
seen  in  Singer,  pp.  249  f.  beginning  with  the  words  "Thou 
rememberest."  This  piece  it  is  which  has  given  the 
celebration  a  pecuhar  character,  that,  viz.,  of  the  yearly 
"  Day  of  Judgment "  {Yam  Ha-din),  which  (as  has  already 
been  pointed  out)  is  one  of  its  current  names  in  the  Syna- 
gogue. The  belief  that  God  has  chosen  this  and  the  days 
connected  with  it  as  a  time  for  passing  special  judgments 
upon  His  creatures  is  reflected  here.  It  was  this  belief, 
no  doubt,  that  influenced  the  Synagogue  to  give  to  the 
first  ten  days  of  the  New  Year  their  penitential  character. 
According  to  Jewish  tradition,  the  great  books  of  judg- 
ment are  opened  on  the  first  day  of  Tisri,  and  closed  ten 
days  afterwards  on  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

According  to  the  Targum  the  scene  in  Heaven  described 
in  Job  i^  f.  took  place  on  New  Year's  Day,  Satan  yearly 
playing  the  part  of  accuser  before  the  Divine  Judge.  In 
the  Talmud  [Rosh  ha-shandh  16'^)  it  is  said  that  the 
sounds  of  the  Shofdr  are  intended  to  "  confuse  "  Satan 


THE   DAY   OF   JUDGMENT  389 

when  so  employed.  ^  In  the  same  passage  it  is  stated 
that  three  books  are  opened  on  this  day,  "  one  for  the 
thoroughly  wicked,  another  for  the  thoroughly  pious, 
and  the  third  for  the  large  intermediate  class.  The  fate 
of  the  thoroughly  wicked  and  the  thoroughly  pious  is 
determined  on  the  spot  ;  the  destiny  of  the  intermediate 
class  is  suspended  until  the  Day  of  Atonement,  when  the 
fate  of  every  man  is  sealed."  ^ 

A  man's  fate  is  determined  according  as  merit  or  demerit 
predominates  in  the  final  reckoning — hence  the  importance 
of  multiphnng  good  deeds  before  the  fatal  Day  (of  Atone- 
ment). Those  who  emerge  from  the  ordeal  successfully 
are  entered  in  the  Book  of  Life  (cf.  Ex.  32^^,  Is.  4^, 
Ps.  6928,  Dan.  I2S  Phil.  4^,  Rev.  3«,  138,  178,  etc.). 
This  explains  the  petition  :  "  Inscribe  us  in  the  Book 
of  Life,"  ^  and  also  the  salutation  of  New  Year's  Eve  : 
"  May  you  be  inscribed  (in  the  Book  of  Life)  for  a  happy 
year."     It  is  interesting  to  note  that  "  the  behef  that  on 

»  Cf.  JE,  ii,  286  b. 

*  Cf.,  op.  cit.  ibid.,  where  also  the  following  liturgical  piece, 
wliich  vi\adly  brings  out  this  aspect  of  the  season,  is  quoted  : 
"  God,  seated  on  His  throne  to  judge  the  world  .  .  .  openeth 
the  Book  of  Records  ;  it  is  read,  every  man's  signature  being 
found  therein.  The  great  trumpet  is  sounded  ;  a  still,  small 
voice  is  heard  ;  the  angels  shudder,  saying,  '  This  is  the  day  of 
judgment' :  for  His  very  ministers  are  not  pure  before  God.  As 
a  shepherd  mustereth  his  flock,  causing  them  to  pass  under  his 
rod,  so  doth  God  cause  every  living  soul  to  pass  before  Him,  to 
fix  the  limit  of  every  creature's  life  and  to  foreordain  its  destiny. 
On  New  Year's  Day  the  decree  is  written  :  on  the  Day  of 
Atonement  it  is  sealed  who  shall  live  and  who  are  to  die,  etc. 
But  penitence,  prayer  and  charity  may  avert  the  evil  decree." 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  fate  not  only  of  individual  creatures, 
but  of  countries — "  which  of  them  is  destined  to  the  sword  and 
which  to  peace,  which  to  famine  and  which  to  plenty" — is  also 
determined  at  the  same  time.     Cf.,   Singer,   p.   250. 

'  It  is  significant  that  in  the  closing  prayer  of  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment, the  expression  "  inscribe  us  "  is  altered  to  "  seal  us,"  i.e., 
"  seal  our  fate."  In  the  JE  {loc.  cit.)  the  writer  remarks  :  "  In 
letters  written  between  New  Year  and  the  Day  of  Atonement 
the  writer  usually  concludes  by  wishing  the  recipient  that  God 
may  seal  his  fate  for  happiness." 


390    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  first  day  of  the  year  the  destiny  of  all  human  beings 
was  fixed,  was  also  that  of  the  Assyrians.  Marduk  is 
said  to  come  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  ("  rish  shatti  ") 
and  decide  the  fate  of  one's  life."  ' 

Of  course  the  day  is  not  only  conceived  of  as  one  for 
remembering  God's  judgments,  though  this  is  its  domi- 
nating thought.  It  also  has  as  one  of  its  chief  purposes 
the  remembrance  before  God  by  TenV  ah,  or  the  blowing  of 
the  S  ho  far,  of  His  mercies  in  the  past,  and  of  His  gracious 
promises  to  His  people  for  the  future.  The  various 
reminiscences  connected  with  the  Day,  which  are  com- 
memorated in  the  prayers  or  special  hymns  during  the 
services,  have  been  thus  admirably  summed  up  : 

Rosh  ha-shdnah  is  first  a  memorial  of  God's  work  of 
Creation,  accomplished  (as  believed)  at  this  season.  It 
proclaims  the  world's  Creator  as  our  King.  It  is,  again,  a 
memorial  of  the  departure  of  the  twelve  tribes  from  Egypt, 
that  great  deliverance  which  is  nevermore  forgotten  or 
omitted  among  the  "  praises  of  Israel."  It  is,  further,  a 
memorial  of  the  giving  of  the  Law  on  Sinai  when  "  the 
trumpet  sounded  long  "  ;  and  a  memorial  also  of  the  binding 
of  Isaac  (the  patriarchal  type  of  the  future  resurrection), 
imploring  a  renewal  of  tliat  goodwill  of  the  Heavenly 
Father,  which  acts  of  faithful  submission  and  obedience 
evoked  on  Mount  Moriah.  It  is  finally  a  memorial  of  the 
divinely  promised  return  of  Israel  to  Jerusalem  in  the  latter 
days,  the  rebuilding  of  the  Holy  City,  the  long  expected  coming 
of  Messiah,  and  the  glorious  Resurrection  of  the  sleeping 
dead." 

In  connexion  with  this  last  point,  an  interesting  piece 
of  ceremonial  outside  the  Synagogue,  which  the  Jews  in 
many  places  are  in  the  habit  of  observing,  may  be  men- 
tioned. It  is  customary  for  them  on  the  eve  of  the  New 
Year  (regarded  as  a  kind  of  All  Souls'  Day)  to  visit  the 
graves  of  the  dead,  and  there  offer  prayers  and  salutations 
to  and  for  them  in  their  last  earthly  resting  place.  The 
late  Canon  Kingsbury  has  mentioned  that   "  a  similar 

>  Op.  cit.,  ibid,  and  ref. 

*  Kingsbury,  77/-?  Ne7V  Year  of  the  Synagogue,  and  its  I.essotis  for 
the  Church  (Church  ami  Synagogue),  \o\.  i,  pp.  7  f. 


THE   DAY   OF  ATONEMENT  391 

rite  to  this  is  observed  in  the  so-called  evangelical  com- 
munities of  various  parts  of  Germany,  on  the  last  Sunday 
of  the  Christian  year  (the  Sunday  before  Advent),  when 
the  congregations  are  often  clad  in  mourning  for  friends 
who  have  departed  during  the  last  twelve-months,  and 
special  remembrance  is  made  of  them  in  the  service."  ' 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  the  day  is  traditionally 
connected  with  the  binding  of  Isaac.  According  to  tradition 
it  is  the  birthday  of  Isaac,  and  also  of  the  prophet  Samuel. 
Hence  the  Pentateuch  lesson  for  the  first  day  is  Gen.  21  ; 
for  the  second  Gen.  22,  both  being  followed  by  the  section 
in  Numbers  that  enumerates  the  sacrifices  of  the  Festival 
(Num.  29^"^) ;  while  the  prophetic  lesson  for  the  first  day 
is  I  Sam.  1^-2^"  (the  narrative  of  Samuel's  birth,  together 
with  Hannah's  song).  For  the  second  day  the  Haftarah 
is  taken  from  Jer,  31- -°,  a  prophecy  dealing  with  the 
restoration  of  Israel. 

The  dedication  of  the  first  ten  days  of  the  New  Year 
to  repentance  is  haggadistically  connected  with  the  com- 
mand (Exod  3426)  :  The  first  of  the  first-fruits  of  thy 
land  thou  shalt  bring  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 
In  accordance  with  this  the  first  ten  days  of  the  year  are 
regarded  as  an  offering  of  first-fruits  to  the  Lord. 

III.     The  Day  of  Atonement  (Yom  Kippur). 

Once  every  year,  on  the  last  of  the  "  ten  days  of  peni- 
tence," with  which  the  Jewish  New  Year  opens  (Tisri  loth), 
the  Jews  foregather  in  their  thousands  in  order  to  carry 
out  to  their  utmost  extent  the  rigorous  demands  which 
their  religion  makes,  for  the  proper  observance  of  the 
Day.  As  is  well  known  the  multitudes  that  assemble  in 
the  various  synagogues  and  temporary  places  of  worship 
requisitioned  for  the  occasion,  include  many  who  are  not 
known,  at  any  other  time,  to  pass  the  doors  of  a  place  of 

1  Kingsbury,  The  New  Year  of  the  Synagogue^  andits  Lessons  for 
the  Church  (Cliurch  and  Synagogue),  vol.  i,  p.  8. 


392    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

worship,  the  year  through.  "  Many  who  do  not  keep  any 
of  the  Jewish  customs  stih  attend  Synagogue  and  fast 
on  this  day."  Such  are  known  as  "  Yom  Kippur  Jews," 
and  this  fact  alone  eloquently  testifies  to  the  supreme  place 
occupied  by  "  The  Day  "  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
modern  Jew. 

What  is  it  that  gives  the  Day  of  Atonement  this  unique 
place  in  the  hfe  of  a  whole  people  ?  How  is  the  observ- 
ance regarded,  what  are  the  conceptions  and  the  meaning 
attached  to  it  by  the  throng  of  worshippers  ?  There 
must  be  some  deep  and  all-compelling  motive  at 
work,  some  profound  feehng  or  conviction  in  action 
to  make  the  strict  and  solemn  observance  of  the  Great 
Fast  under  modem  conditions  practically  universal.  In 
order  to  answer  these  questions  aright,  it  is  necessary 
to  review  briefly  the  past  history  of  the  Day. 

As  everybody  knows,  it  occupies  a  highly  important 
place  in  the  Levitical  Law.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  supreme 
piaculous  act  of  the  Old  Covenant.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  elaborate  details  are  given  for  its  ceremonial  observ- 
ance in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Leviticus,  which  need 
not  be  discussed  now.  It  wiU  suffice  here  to  add  that 
in  order  to  understand  these  fuUy  it  is  necessary  to 
supplement  the  details  given  in  Leviticus  by  others 
preserved  in  the  Mishnah.  For  instance,  we  learn  from 
the  latter  authority  that  it  was  customary  for  the  High 
Priest  to  prepare  for  his  solemn  functions  on  the  great 
Day  by  going  into  retreat  for  the  seven  days  immediately 
preceding.  For  our  purpose,  however,  it  is  more  important 
to  observe  (i)  that  Hke  Rosh  ha-shanah  it  possessed  a 
Sabbatic  character,  abstention  from  all  work  being  rigidly 
demanded  ;  (2)  that  it  was  to  be  kept  as  a  strict  fast, 
"  from  even  unto  even  "  (cf.  Lev.  23=^^  ^')  ;  and  (3)  it  was 
to  be  observed  by  all  Israehtes  ("  whatsoever  soul  shall 
not  afflict  himself— i.e.,  fast— shall  be  cut  off  from  among 
his  people,"  etc.  Lev.  22^^~^^-),  and  was  to  be  of 
perpetual    obligation   ("it  shall    be    a  statute  for  ever 


EFFICACY   OF  THE   DAY   OF  ATONEMENT    393 

throughout  your  generations  in  all  your  dweUings " 
Lev.  23^^=^2)  As  its  name  implies,  its  supreme  purpose 
was  atonement,  which  was  to  be  made  by  sacrifices  for 
the  High  Priest,  the  priests,  the  Sanctuary,  and  the 
people. 

The  last  aspect  of  the  ceremonial — that  which  concerns 
the  people  as  a  whole — has  most  importance  for  us.  "  On 
that  day,"  runs  the  enactment,  "  shall  atonement  be 
made  for  you  to  cleanse  you  ;  ye  shall  be  clean  from  all 
your  sins  before  Jehovah."  And  again  :  "It  shall  be 
an  everlasting  statute  for  you,  that  atonement  shall  be 
made  for  the  children  of  Israel  for  all  their  sins  once 
a  year." 

Some  scholars  have  questioned  whether  all  kinds  of 
sin  are  included  in  the  atoning  efficacy  of  the  ceremonial. 
It  has  been  argued  that  "  only  unintentional  sins  were 
included  in  this  annual  forgiveness."  ^  But,  as  Mr. 
Montefiore  has  pointed  out,  "  By  the  letter  of  the  law 
it  was  seemingly  implied  that  the  guilt  of  all  sins,  of 
what  kind  soever,  be  they  ritual  or  moral,  voluntary  or 
involuntary,  would  be  wiped  out  and  atoned  for  by  the 
ceremony  of  the  Atonement  Day,"  ^ 

In  its  original  institution  the  Day  of  Atonement  was 
essentially  bound  up  with  the  system  and  theory  of 
Levitical  sacrifice.  It  was  instituted,  as  Mr  Montefiore 
has  pointed  out,  "  for  the  community,  not  for  the 
individual,  in  order  to  cleanse  Jahveh's  (Jehovah's)  nation 
and  land  from  the  residual  taint  of  individual  sins  that 
may  have  been  supposed  to  remain  even  after  legal 
and  ritual  purification  had  already  been  provided  for  in 
each  case.  For  only  so  could  the  nation  and  community 
preserve  that  ceremonial  purity  which  would  enable 
Jahveh  to  continue  dwelling  in  their  midst." 

How  essentially  imperfect,  deficient  and  unsatisfying 


»  So  Kuenen  as  quoted  in  Montefiore,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  335, 
»  Hibbert  Lectures,  ibid. 


394    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

such  a  ceremonial  system  of  atonement  really  is  must 
have  often  been  apparent  to  the  more  spiritually  minded 
among  the  Jews,  even  before  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple  and  the  consequent  cessation  of  all  sacrifice. 
The  higher  view  is  powerfully  stated,  from  the  Christian 
standpoint,  by  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
And  when  the  great  catastrophe  came,  and  the  Temple 
with  all  its  elaborate  ritual  of  sacrifice  was  finally  swept 
away,  the  logic  of  events  would  seem  to  have  triumphantly 
vindicated  the  truth  of  the  Christian  contention,  that  the 
Levitical  system  was  essentially  transitional  to  something 
higher.  With  the  disappearance  of  the  sacrifices  the 
conclusion  appears  inevitable  that  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment has  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  If  it  survived 
how  could  it  be  regarded  as  anything  but  a  meaningless 
anachronism  ?  This  conclusion  the  later  Judaism  refused 
to  draw.  With  curious  and  almost  pathetic  tenacity 
it  has  retained  the  ancient  observance,  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  no  religious  celebration  is  more  fondly  cherished  by 
modem  Jews. 

What,  then,  is  the  theory  underlying  the  modern 
observance  ? 

The  Rabbis  taught  that  "  charity  or  repentance  was 
an  accepted  substitute  or  equivalent  for  sacrifice." 
Only  with  this  a  certain  atoning  efficacy  was  given  to  the 
Day  itself.  The  following  quotation  will  illustrate  the 
Rabbinical  view  : 

At  this  time,  when  there  is  no  temple,  and  we  have  no 
altar,  there  is  no  atonement  but  repentance.  Repentance 
atones  for  all  transgressions,  yea,  though  a  man  be  wicked 
all  his  days,  and  repent  at  last,  none  of  his  wickedness  is 
mentioned  to  him,  for  it  is  said,  "  As  for  the  wickedness  of  the 
wicked,  he  shall  not  fall  thereby,  in  the  day  that  he  turneth 
from  his  wickedness"  (Ezek.  331^).  The  Day  of  Atonement 
itself  also  atones  for  them  that  repent,  for  it  is  said,  "  For  on 
that  day  he  shall  make  an  atonement  for  you  "  (Lev.  ib^").! 

The  Rabbis  rightly  insist,  again  and  again,  on  the  value 
1  Maimonides  as  cited  above,  pp.  331  f. 


SUPERSTITION    REGARDING   THE   DAY    395 

the  indispensability  of  true,  deep,  heart-felt  repentance. 
Only  they  fatally  hampered  their  theory  by  assigning 
together  with  this  a  certain  atoning  efficacy  to  the  Day 
itself.  The  consequence  has  been  that  a  mass  of  super- 
stition has,  as  Mr.  Montefiore  admits,  "  gradually 
surrounded "  the  celebration  of  the  Day  in  the 
Synagogue.' 

As  has  already  been  pointed  out,^  the  first  ten  days  of 
the  New  Year  have  come  to  be  regarded  by  the  Jews  as 
a  time  when  God  passes  special  judgments  upon  His 
creatures,  and  goes  through  an  annual  process  of  judging 
and  forgiving.  According  to  the  Mishnah,  "  Repentance 
atones  for  light  offences  then  and  there  (i.e.,  God  pardons 
them  immediately),  with  regard  to  heavy  offences  repent- 
ance makes  them  hang  in  the  balance  until  the  Day  comes 
and  atones  for  them."  ^  In  other  words,  the  atoning  efficacy 
of  the  Day  itself  is  required  in  order  to  secure  the  Divine 
forgiveness. 

Mr.  Montefiore  explains  that  "  no  more  is  implied  than 
that  there  is  a  formal  suspension  of  forgiveness  between 
the  repentance  and  the  Day.  Practically,  forgiveness  is 
assured  by  repentance  ;  formally,  it  is  suspended  until 
the  actual  Day  arrives.  Otherwise"  (he  pathetically  ex- 
claims) "what  would  there  be  left  for  the  Day  to  do?  " 
As  a  special  Day  has  been  reserved  for  Atonement,  and  as 
a  special  atoning  efficacy  has  been  made  to  inhere  in  the 
Day  itself,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  multitudes  of  Jews 
assign  a  superstitious  efficacy  to  formal  and  acknowledged 
repentance  on  this  particular  Day.  Each  individual 
may  be  "  only  too  willing,"  to  use  Mr.  Montefiore's  words, 
"  to  apply  to  himself  the  words  of  the  Scripture  :  On 
that  day  shall  he  make  an  atonement  for  you,  to  cleanse  you 
that  ye  may  be  clean  from  all  your  sins  before  Jehovah.'" 


'  Op.  cit.,  pp.  523. 
«  See  p.  388  f. 
*    Voma,  viii,  6. 


396    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  Rabbis 
are  ahve  to  some  of  the  dangers  connected  with  the 
observance  The  Mishnah  is  careful  to  teach  that  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  are  ineffectual  unless 
accompanied  by  repentance.  "  Death  and  the  Day  of 
Atonement  work  atonement  "  (one  passage  runs),  "  where 
there  is  repentance."  ^  "  If  a  man  says,"  we  are  told  in 
the  same  context,  "  I  will  sin  and  repent,  I  will  sin  and 
repent,"  Heaven  does  not  give  him  the  means  of  practising 
repentance  ;  and  if  he  says  "  I  will  sin,  and  the  Day  of 
Atonement  will  bring  atonement,"  the  Day  of  Atonement 
will  bring  him  no  atonement."  ^ 

Further,  we  are  told  in  another  passage  that  "  the  Day 
of  Atonement  absolves  from  sins  against  God,  but  not 
from  sins  against  a  fellow  man  until  his  companion  be 
reconciled."  ^  On  this  account  it  has  become  customary 
to  terminate  all  feuds  and  disputes  on  the  eve  of  the  Day. 
"  Even  the  souls  of  the  dead  are  included  in  the  commun- 
ity of  those  pardoned  on  the  Day  of  Atonement.  It  is 
customary  for  children  to  have  pubhc  mention  made  in 
the  Synagogue  of  their  departed  parents,  and  to  make 
charitable  gifts  on  behalf  of  their  souls.  But  no  amount 
of  charity  will  avail  the  soul  of  a  wicked  man."  * 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  consider  very  briefly  the 
actual  celebration  of  the  Day  as  practised  in  the  modem 
Synagogue. 

There  are  altogether  five  services  on  the  Day  of  Atone- 
ment, viz.,  (i)  Evening  Prayer  [Ma'anh),  recited  on  the 
evening  of  the  ninth  of  Tisri,  after  sunset,  when  according 
to  Jewish  reckoning  the  Day  begins  ;  (2)  Morning  Prayer 
{ShacharUh)  ;  (3)  The  Additional  [Musaf)  ;  (4)  Afternoon 
Prayer  {Minchdh)  ;    and  (5)    Closing    Prayer    [Ne'ilah), 


1  Yoma,  viii,  8.  »  Yoma,  viii,  9. 

3  T.  B.  Yoma,  87a.  (cf.  JE,  ii,  288a). 
*  JE,  ii.  288a  (with  reff.). 


THE    "  AMIDAH  "-PRAYER  397 

The  services  numbered  here  (2)  to  (5)  are  held  continuously, 
from  morning  to  sunset,  on  Tisri  the  tenth. ^ 

The  structure  of  these  services  follows  the  outline  of 
the  corresponding  services  for  ordinary  occasions,  ivith 
certain  modifications  and  additions.  The  most  important 
of  the  modifications  concern  the  Amidah-Vidiyer,  and 
can  be  partially  seen  in  Singer,  pp.  255  f.,  esp.  pp.  256  f., 
while  the  additions  consist  mainly  of  penitential  prayers 
(Seltchoth),  and  forms  of  confession  {Widdny)^  The 
part  of  the  services  in  which  the  characteristic  note,  of 
the  Day  receive  their  fullest  and  most  intense  expression 
is  undoubtedly  the  central  Benediction  of  the  Milsaf 
(Additional)  Aimdah-'PTa.yeT.  This  paragraph  alone 
occupies  no  less  than  seventy-two  pages  in  the  Festival 
Prayer-Book.  ^  It  begins  with  a  beautiful  prayer  for  the 
Synagogue  Reader,  which  the  following  quotation  will 
illustrate  : — 

Reader  :  O  God,  and  the  God  of  our  fathers,  be  Thou  with 
the  mouths  of  those  whom  Thy  people  Israel  have  deputed 
to  stand  in  Thy  presence  to  pray  and  supplicate  for  Thy 
people,  the  House  of  Israel.  Teach  them  what  they  shall 
say,  instruct  them  what  they  shall  speak,  answer  their  request, 
and  cause  them  to  know  how  to  glorify  Thee.  May  they 
walk  in  the  light  of  Thy  countenance  ;  may  they  bend  the  knee 
unto  Thee,  and  may  the  utterance  of  their  mouths  bring 
blessings  on  Thy  people,  and  may  all  be  blessed  with  the 
blessing  of  Thy  mouth.  They  conduct  Thy  people  into  Thy 
presence,  and  they  approach  into  the  midst  of  them  ;  the 
eyes  of  Thy  people  are  fixed  on  them,  and  their  eyes  do 
anxiously  long  for  Thee.   .   .   . 

Congregation  :  May  they  not  falter  with  their  tongue  nor 
be  entangled  in  their  speech,  so  that  their  congregation  who 


*  Even  in  the  Reform  Synagogues  the  services  are, 
practically  without  exception,  continuous  throughout  the  day. 

*  The  complete  prayers  for  the  various  services  of  the  day  arc 
very  voluminous,  and  include  a  number  of  poetical  pieces.  They 
can  be  read  inextenso  in  the  Festival  Praycr-Books.  In  De  Sola's 
Edition  of  the  Festival  Prayers  the  services  for  the  Day  of 
Atonement  occupy  two  whole  volumes,  as  also  in  the  new  ed.  of 
the  Festival  Prayers  published  by  Routledge. 

*  Cf.  De  Sola,  vol.  v,  pp.  46-117  (^Routledge's  new  ed.  pp.  155- 
191). 


398     SYNACxOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

confide  in  them  should  through  them  be  ashamed  :  suffer 
not  their  mouth  to  utter  a  word  that  is  contrary  to  Thy  will  : 
for  those  who  are  favoured  of  Thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  are 
indeed  favoured,  and  those  on  whom  Thou  hast  mercy  are 
treated  with  the  tenderest  afiection.   .   .  .  i 

This  is  followed  by  a  summary  account  of  Biblical  history 
from  Adam  to  Aaron.  The  whole  Temple  Service  of  the 
Day  of  Atonement  is  then  minutely  described,  the  most 
interesting  feature  of  which;  perhaps,  is  the  three  forms 
of  confession  used  by  the  High  Priest — for  himself  and 
his  household,  for  himself  and  the  priesthood,  and  lastly 
for  the  whole  people — which  were  actually  employed  in 
the  Temple -services. 

The  first  of  these — uttered  by  the  High  Priest  on  laying 
his  hands  upon  the  head  of  a  young  bullock  which  was 
offered  as  his  sin-offering — ran  as  follows  : — 

O  Lord,  I  have  sinned,  I  have  trespassed,  I  have  done 
wrong  before  Thee,  I  and  my  house,  O  Lord  :  grant  atone- 
ment for  the  sins,  trespasses  and  wrongs  which  I  have 
committed  before  Thee,  I  and  my  house,  as  it  is  written  in 
the  law  (Torah)  of  Thy  servant  Moses  :  "  For  on  this  day 
he  shall  atone  for  you  to  cleanse  you  from  all  your  sins 
before  the  Lord  "   (Lev.   i6^°). 

In  each  of  the  three  confessions  the  High  Priest  pro- 
nounced the  ineffable  name  at  which  the  congregation 
"  kneeled  and  prostrated  themselves,  falling  on  their 
faces  and  saying,  '  Blessed  be  the  name  of  His  glorious 
majesty  for  ever  and  ever.'  "  ^  After  an  elaborate  descrip- 
tion of  the  other  sacrificial  details,  a  composition  described 
as  the  prayer  of  the  High  Priest  is  then  recited.  This  is 
supposed  to  have  been  uttered  by  him  on  the  successful 
completion  of  the  sacrifices   and  begins  thus  : — 

May  it  be  acceptable  in  Thy  presence,  O  Lord  our  God, 
and  the  God  of  our  fathers,  that  this  year  we  have  just 
entered  may  be  to  us  and  to  all  Thy  people  Israel  a  year  in 
which  Thou  mayest  open  the  treasuries  of  Thy  blessing  ;  a 
year  of  plenty  and  blessing  ;  a  year  of  good  decrees  in  our 
favour  proceeding  from  Thee,  etc.,  etc. 

1  De  Sola,  v,  pp.  49  f.  (=new  ed.  pp.  158;. 

2  De  Sola,  op.  cit.,  p.  54  (=new  ed.  p.  161). 


THE    "  AMIDAH  "-PRAYER  399 

This  is  followed  by  a  rapturous  description  of  the 
beautiful  appearance  of  the  High  Priest,  based  upon 
Ecclesiasticus  46  foil.  The  lines  are  chanted  by  the 
Reader  and  closed  in  each  case  by  a  refrain  said  by  the 
congregation. 
Reader  :  As  Heaven's  expanded  canopy 

{ref.)  was  the  High  Priest's  appearance  ! 
and  so  on. 
Now  the  plaintive  note  is  heard  : 
Happy  the  eye  that  beheld  all  these — 

for,  verily,  to  hear  only  of  them  afflicts  our  soul ! 
Happy  the  eye  that  saw  our  Temple,  and  the  joyful 
assembly  of  our  congregation— 
for,  verily,  to  hear  only  of  them  afflicts  our  soul  ! 
But  the  iniquities  of  our  fathers  have  caused  the 

desolation  of  the  Temple, 
And  our  sins  have  prolonged  the  period  of  our  captivity  ! 
0   may  the  rehearsal  of  these  things  procure  forgiveness 

for  us, 
And  the  affliction  of  our  soul  be  the  means  of  our  pardon  ! 
Thou  hast,  therefore,  in  Thine  abundant  mercy  given  us 

this  Day  of  Atonement, 
And  this  day  of  pardoning  iniquity — for  the  forgiveness 
of  iniquity, 

and  the  expiation  of  transgression  !  ^ 
Temple,  altar,  and  priest  have  been  reft  away,  troubles 
have  multiplied,  and  the  contemplation  of  present  misery 
only  serves  to  intensify  the  sense  of  loss,  and  to  quicken 
the  desire  for  the  re-establislmient  of  the  ancient  glories 
and  ritual.  With  an  ardent  expression  of  hope  and 
supplication  for  their  restoration  this  section  of  the 
Amidah    ends.     The    technical  name   for   this  part   of 

1  In  the  reform  ritual  (i.e.,  the  ritual  of  the  Reform  Synagogues) 
expression  is  given  to  the  view  of  an"  atonement  for  mankind  by 
the  sacrifice  which  Israel,  as  the  martyr  priest,  is  destined  to 
bring."     JE.   i,  76b. 


400     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

the  prayer  is  Ab6ddh  =  "  Service,"  because  it  recites  the 
manner  in  which  the  Atonement  Service  was  conducted 
by  the  High  Priest  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem.  As 
such  it  has  been  set  to  specially  impressive  cadences  which 
aptly  express — especially  in  the  most  solemn  parts,  as 
when  the  three  confessions  of  the  High  Priest  are  recited 
— the  religious  emotions  roused  by  the  service. ^ 

The  most  characteristic  note  of  the  services  for  the 
Day  is  struck  in  the  various  forms  of  Confession  of  sin 
[Widduy).  The  most  frequently  recurring  of  these  is  ap- 
pended to  the  AmHah-Vr^yeT  for  each  service,  and 
opens  thus  : 

Our  God  and  God  of  our  fathers,  let  our  prayer  come 
before  Thee  ;  hide  not  Thyself  from  our  supplication,  for 
we  are  not  arrogant  and  sti-ff-nccked,  that  we  should  say 
before  Thee,  0  Lord  our  God,  and  God  of  our  fathers,  we  are 
righteous  and  have  not  sinned.     Yea,  verily,  we  have  sinned  ! 

We  have  trespassed,  we  have  been  faithless,  we  have  robbed, 
we  have  spoken  basely,  we  have  committed  iniquity,  we  have 
wrought  unrighteousness,  we  have  been  presumptuous,  we 
have  done  violence,  we  have  forged  lies,  we  have  counselled 
evil,  we  have  spoken  falsely,  we  have  scoffed,  we  have  revolted, 
we  have  blasphemed  we  have  been  rebellious,  we  have  acted 
perversely,  we  have  transgressed,  we  have  persecuted,  we 
have  been  stiff-necked,  we  have  done  wickedly,  we  have 
corrupted  ourselves,  we  have  committed  abomination,  we  have 
gone  astray,  and  we  have  led  astray. 

May  it  then  be  Thy  Will,  0  Lord  our  God  and  God  of 
our  fathers,  to  forgive  us  for  all  our  sins,  to  pardon  us  for 
all  our  iniquities,  and  to  grant  us  remission  for  all  our 
transgressions. 

For  the  sin  which  we  have  committed  before  Thee  under 
compulsion,  or  of  our  own  free  will : 

And  for  the  sin  which  we  have  committed  before  Thee  in 
hardening  of  the  heart  : 

^  For  an  account  of  this  music  see  the  Art.  ABODA,  Music  of, 
in  the  JE  i,  p.  76  f. 


"KOL  NIDRE"  401 

And  for  the  sin,  etc.^ 

For  all  these,  0  God  of  forgiveness,  forgive  us,  pardon  us, 
grant  us  remission. 

The  opening  service  of  the  Day  of  Atonement,  i.e., 
the  service  held  in  the  evening  of  Tisri  the  ninth,  is 
known  as  Kol  Nidre  {  =  All  Vows).  This  name  is  derived 
from  a  formula  of  remission  of  vows  which  is  recited 
immediately  before  the  service.  This,  however,  is  preceded 
by  another  declaration,  of  which  mention  must  be  made. 
Just  before  nightfall  "  the  two  most  learned  and 
reputable  men  of  the  congregation  stand  up  with  the 
leader  (reader)  and  all  three  say  thrice  : 

"  By  the  opinion  of  God  and  the  opinion  of  the  Assembly, 
as  given  in  the  session  on  high,  and  in  the  session  below,  we 
give  leave  to  pray  with  the  transgressors."  ^ 

The  original  meaning  of  this  declaration  must  have 
been  that  the  three,  forming  a  Beth  Din  or  Court  with 
power  to  absolve  from  the  ban,  gave  leave  to  the  excom- 
municated to  join  in  the  prayers  of  the  congregation. 
It  is  now,  however,  an  empty  form. 

Then  follows  the  Kol  Nidre,  which  runs  thus  : 
All  vows  and  prohibitions,  and  bans,  and  devotions  in 
sacrifice,  and  vowings  by  nickname,^  and  penalties  and 
oaths,  which  we  have  vowed,  or  which  we  have  sworn,  or 
which  we  have  put  under  ban,  or  which  we  have  forbidden  to 
ourselves  {from  this  Day  of  Atonement  to  the  next  Day 
of  Atonement,  may  it  come  in  peace)  ;  we  have  repented 
of  all  of  them  :  let  all  of  them  be  dissolved,  abandoned,  put 
at  rest,  be  void,  and  be  annulled,  not  valid,  nor  of  force  ; 
our  vows  are  no  vows,  our  prohibitions  are  no  prohibitions, 
our  oaths  are  no  oaths. 

1  Of  these  clauses — beginning  with  the  words  "  And  for  the 
sin :  " — there  are  altogether  forty-four  (two  for  each  letter  of  the 
alphabet).     For  the  whole  confession,  see  Singer,  pp.  258-263. 

*  Cf.  Dembitz,  op.  cit.,  p.   175. 

*  i.e.  vows  made  in  mutilated  words  like  Konam  for  Corban 
(sacrifice)  because  such  are  valid  (Dembitz). 

27-(-4'7) 


402    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

This  is  sung  three  times  by  the  Cantor.  Then  he  and 
the  congregation  say  together  thrice  : 

And  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
be  forgiven,  and  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  among  them  ; 
for  as  to  all  the  people  it  was   done  unwittingly  (Num. 

15  25). 

The  terms  of  the  declaration  have  reference  to  the 
classification  in  Num.  30,  where  the  abrogation  of 
particular  vows,  under  certain  conditions,  is  set  forth. 
The  Rabbis  discouraged  the  practice  of  making  vows, 
and  established  a  rule  that  a  man  might  make  a 
declaration  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  by  which 
vows  made  that  year  would  be  void  (unless  in  making  the 
vow  it  was  exphcitly  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  declaration).  This  custom  was  formerly  carried 
out  privately,  but  has  now  been  transferred  to  the 
Eve  of  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  altered  into  a 
general  declaration  embracing  the  community.  The 
vows  intended  are  those  affecting  the  personal  welfare 
or  comfort  of  the  individual  vowing,  and  legal  obliga- 
tions, of  course,  do  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the 
declaration.  1 

After  this  declaration  the  first  of  the  Atonement -services 
begins  [Ma'artb)  and  is  terminated  by  the  recitation  of 
the  prayer  Ahinti  Malkenu  (see  Singer,  pp.  55-57). 

On  the  following  afternoon  the  last  of  the  services  of  the 
Day — and  the  one  which  is  peculiar  to  it — the  Ne'ilah 
("  conclusion  ")  is  read,  and  this  also  includes  towards 
the  end  Ahinu  Malkenu,  which  is  followed  by  a  most 
impressive    ceremony — the    solemn     recitation    of    the 

^  "  It  was  probably  intended  as  a  warning  against  hurtful  vows 
which  would  probably  be  entered  upon  during  the  excitement  of 
the  most  solemn  day  of  the  year,  and  would  be  against  the  third 
commandment,  but  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  have  interpreted 
it  as  releasing  them  from  the  consequences  of  a  legal  oath,  to 
which,  of  course,  it  has  no  application,  having  reference  only  to 
vows  laid  upon  oneself  in  regard  to  one's  own  character  "  [Jewish 
Year  Book,  1896,  p.   164). 


LESSONS   FOR   THE    DAY  403 

prayers  said  by  every  good  Jew  with  his  last  breath  when 
on  the  point  of  death. 

It  consists  of  the  first  Hne  of  Shema',  said  by  the  Reader 
and  Congregation  once  : 

Hear,  0  Israel :  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One, 
followed  by 

Blessed  be  His  name,  whose  glorious  Kingdom  is  for  ever 
and  ever  (repeated  three  times), 

And  this  by  The  Lord  He  is  God !  (repeated  seven 
times). 

Then  the  Shofar  is  sounded  and  the  great  Day  of 
Atonement  is  over  {Ne'Uah,  being  finished  about 
sundown). 

In  connexion  with  the  ceremony  just  described  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  many  Jews  attend  Synagogue  on 
this  day  arrayed  in  the  shroud  [sargonas)  in  which  they 
will  be  buried. 

It  should  also  be  noted  that  the  congregation  wear  the 
Talith  or  praying-shawl  at  the  Kol  Nidre  service.  Ex- 
in  this  instance  the  Talith  is  never  worn  at  the 
evening  service  save  by  the  minister,  or  by  a  mourner 
who  says  Kaddish. 

The  Lessons  for  the  Day  are  the  following  :  (i)  from  the 
Pentateuch  (Torah)  :  Lev,  i6  (account  of  the  ceremonial 
of  the  Day  of  Atonement),  and  Num.  29'"^^  (the  sacri- 
fices of  the  Day).  (2)  From  the  Prophets  {Haftarah)  : 
Isa.  57^^-58^*  (on  the  true  fast).  These  are  read  at 
Morning  Prayer  {Shacharith).  At  Afternoon  Prayer 
{Minchah)  Lev.  18  (on  forbidden  marriages),  and  the 
Book  of  Jonah  (on  the  efficacy  of  repentance)  and 
Micah  7I8-20  g^j-g  read. 

IV.     The  Fasts. 
Fasting  ^  is  referred  to  in  the  Bible  sometimes  as  a  sign 

1  Hebrew  tsum  :  the  phrase  "  afflict  the  soul  "  (Hebrew  inndh 
nefesh)  =  to  fast :  hence  Ls  derived  the  later  Hebrew  word  td'dniih 
Ut.  affliction  (i.e..  fasting). 


404    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

of  mourning,  sometimes  as  an  act  of  humiliation  in  the 
face  of  impending  danger.  It  may  be  of  a  purely  private 
and  voluntary  character,  or  a  fixed  public  institution. 

Fast-days  of  the  latter  kind  are  comparatively  rare  in 
the  Jewish  sacred  calendar.  The  only  fast-day  prescribed 
in  the  Law  is  the  Day  of  Atonement.  After  the  Return 
from  Babylon  four  other  regular  fast-days  were  instituted 
in  memory  of  various  sad  events  connected  with  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  exile.  These  are  alluded 
to  in  Zech.  8^^  as  "  the  fast  of  the  fourth  month,  and  the 
fast  of  the  fifth,  and  the  fast  of  the  seventh,  and  the  fast 
of  the  tenth."  Of  these  "  the  fast  of  the  tenth  "  —  Tebeth  lo, 
and  commemorates  the  beginning  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem ; 
"  the  fast  of  the  fourth  month  "  =Tammuz  17,  and  com- 
memorates the  breach  made  in  the  walls  ;  "  the  fast  of  the 
fifth  "=:Ab  9  ("  The  Black  Fast  "),  commemorating  the 
destruction  of  the  First  and  Second  Temples  ;  and  "  the  fast 
of  the  seventh  "  =Tisri  3,  called  "  The  Fast  of  Gedaliah  "  ; 
it  commemorates  the  assassination  of  the  Jewish  Viceroy 
of  that  name  who  had  been  left  behind  in  Jerusalem  by 
Nebuchadnezzar  (cf.  Jer.  41).  These  fasts  are  observed 
in  orthodox  synagogues,  which  conform  to  Rabbinical 
law,  by  the  reading  of  special  lessons.  Ex.  32^^"^*  and 
34^"^"  are  read  both  in  the  morning  and  afternoon 
services  ;  in  the  afternoon  Is.  55*^-56^  is  read  as  the 
Haftarah  (prophetic  lesson)  on  all  fasts.  As  has  already 
been  mentioned,  all  these  fasts  begin  at  daybreak  and 
last  till  evening. 

The  fast  on  the  9th  of  Ab  calls  for  special  remark.  Like 
the  Day  of  Atonement  it  is  observed  strictly  for  twenty- 
four  hours  (from  evening  until  evening).  The  lessons 
for  this  day  are  in  the  morning  Deut.  425-40  ^^d  Jer. 
8i3_g23.  jji  thg  afternoon  Exod.  32^^'^*  and  34i'"i'' with  Is. 
55^-56^  as  Haftarah  (as  on  other  fasts).  At  the  morn- 
ing service  talith  and  tefillin  (phylacteries)  are  not  worn,^ 

1  They  are,   however,   put  on   for  the  afternoon  service. 


"THE   FAST   OF   ESTHER"  405 

as  a  sign  of  sorrow  ;  and  during  the  day  the  book  of 
Lamentations  and  the  Book  of  Job  are  read,  and  various 
elegies  called Kinoth  ("lamentations  ")  are  recited. 

The  day  is  fraught  with  sad  and  painful  memories  for  the 
Jewish  race.  The  following  events  are  traditionally  associ- 
ated with  it :  the  decree  that  the  Jews  who  went  out  of  Egypt 
should  not  enter  Palestine  ;  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
for  the  first  and  second  time  ;  the  capture  of  Bethar  (Bar 
Kokba's  stronghold),  and  the  plowing  of  Jerusalem  with  a 
plowshare  (after  the  suppression  of  Bar  Kokba's  revolt). 

The  three  weeks  intervening  between  the  17th  of  Tammuz 
and  the  9th  of  Ab  are  observed  by  many  pious  Jews  as  a  sort 
of  Lenten  period  (in  some  cases  only  the  ten  days  immediately 
preceding  9th  of  Ab  are  so  observed).  They  abstain  from 
meat  and  pleasures  of  various  sorts.  The  giving  of  charity 
on  fast  days  was  much  encouraged. 

Besides  the  above  the  "  Fast  of  Esther  "  (commemor- 
ating Esther's  fasting  mentioned  in  Est.  g^^ ;  cf.  4^  ^^) 
is  kept  by  some  as  an  additional  fast  on  Adar  13  (or  in  a 
leap  year  on  the  13th  of  Adar  Sheni).'  The  "  Fast  of  the 
First-bom,"  kept  by  the  first-born  on  the  eve  of  the  Pass- 
over, must  also  be  mentioned  in  this  connexion.  It  com- 
memorates the  miraculous  deliverance  of  the  first-born  of 
the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  when  those  of  the  Egyptians  were 
slain.  The  custom  of  fasting  on  the  day  of  one's  marriage 
has  already  been  mentioned  ;  the  anniversary  of  the 
death  of  a  father  or  mother  ("  Jahrzeit  ")  is  similarly 
observed.  Some  pious  Jews  fast  every  Monday  and 
Thursday  in  memory  of  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
the  burning  of  the  Torah,  and  the  desecration  of  God's 
name  (cf.  S.  Luke  18^-,  "  I  fast  twice  in  the  week  ")} 
The  Monday,  Thursday,  and  Monday  following  the 
feasts    of    Passover    and    Tabernacles     are    recognized 

*  This  used  to  be  observed  by  certain  Jews  on  three  days,  viz., 
on  the  first  and  second  Mondays,  and  the  Thursday  following 
Purim. 

*  Cf.  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  VIII,  i:  "But  let 
not  your  fasts  be  with  the  hypocrites  (i.e.  the  Jews)  ;  for  they 
fast  on  the  second  day  of  the  week  and  on  the  fifth  ;  but  ye  shall 
fast  the  fourth  day  and  the  preparation  (i.e.  Friday)." 


406    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

fast-days  in  many  Jewish  communities.  Their  original 
intention  was  to  atone  for  any  sins  committed  during  the 
hoHdays.  To  these  may  be  added  the  day  before  the 
new  moon,  called  "  little  yom  kippur,"  which  is  specially 
observed  by  some  congregations.  Finally,  special  fast- 
days,  observed  with  much  solemn  cceremonial,  have 
from  time  to  time  been  imposed  by  the  synagogue  on  the 
community  in  face  of  any  threatening  danger  or  calamity. 
Such  fasts  were  always  held  on  Mondays,  and  Thursdays. 
Private  fasting  has  always  prevailed  to  some  extent  among 
the  Jews,  though  discouraged  by  the  Rabbis. 

Of  the  fixed  fast- days  the  Day  of  Atonement  alone  can 
fall  on  the  Sabbath.  If  any  of  the  others  should  happen 
to  coincide  with  the  Sabbath  its  celebration  is  postponed 
till  the  following  day.  Private  or  pubhc  occasional  fasts 
are  not  allowable  in  the  month  of  Nisan,  during  the 
holidays,  on  new  moons,  or  on  the  minor  festivals. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Some  Modern  Religious  Rites  and  Customs  among 
THE  Jews,  and  their  Origin. 

Circumcision — Redemption  of  the  First-born — The  Dietary  Laws— 
Kapparath-Schlag  —  Peyoth  —  Phylacteries  —  Praying  -  Shawl  — 
Swaying  the  Body — The  Marriage  Chuppah — The  Door-post 
Symbol. 

Many  of  the  religious  customs  of  the  Jews,  a  number 
of  which  are  kept  up  even  at  the  present  day  among 
the  orthodox,  offer  fascinating  subjects  of  study  to  the 
archaeologist,  as  well  as  to  the  student  of  folk-lore.  But 
our  main  reason  in  drawing  attention  to  some  of  these 
here  is  to  present  an  object-lesson  in  the  antiquity  of 
the  Jewish  religion.  In  these  customs  we  have  an 
unique  example  of  a  modem  rehgious  community  in 
touch  with  a  remote  antiquity  ;  and  the  study  of  them 
affords  a  very  interesting  insight  into  what  is  to  the 
majority  of  mankind,  all  the  world  over,  one  of  the  most 
important  factors  in  the  rationale  of  religion,  namely,  its 
visible  expression.  While  we  may  wonder  at  the  in- 
congruity of  modem  civihzed  communities  keeping  up 
customs  which,,  in  some  instances  at  all  events,  are  ex- 
pressive of  ideas  proper  to  primitive  man,  it  is  only  fair 
to  remember  that  among  those  who  practise  these  customs 
there  is  probably  not  a  soul  who  reahzes  their  original 
signification  ;  "  it  is  the  property  of  religious  customs, 
which  have  become  traditional,  to  perpetuate  themselves 
even  when  they  no  longer  answer  to  contemporaneous 
ideas."  ^  What  has  been  said  does  not  apply  to  all 
the  customs  and  rites  which  are  to  be  considered,  and 
even  in  respect  to  those  to  which  it  does  apply,  it  is  well 


1  R6ville,  Prolegomena  of  the  History  of  Religions,  p.  132. 
407 


408    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION    AND   WORSHIP 

to  remember  that  the  same  might  with  justice  be  urged 
in  the  case  of  some  forms  of  Christian  behef  and  practice  ; 
but  it  is  in  Judaism  that  we  find  the  most  conspicuous 
survivals. 

I.  Circumcision. 
In  accordance  with  the  command  given  in  Gen.  17^°, 
every  Jewish  male  is  circumcized,  and  the  rite  is 
regarded  as  the  sign  of  a  covenant  made  with  God.  The 
origin  of  circumcision,  therefore,  is  believed  by  Jews  to 
be  found  in  a  command  given  by  God  to  Abraham. 
But  while  the  Old  Testament  itself  offers  conflicting 
testimony  on  this  point  (compare  together  Gen. 
j^io-12.  Ex.  425-26;  Jos.  5^),  and  the  idea  itself  is 
revolting,  the  fact  of  the  very  wide  prevalence  of  the 
rite  is  sufficient  to  show  that  its  origin  must  be  due  to 
something  very  different  ;  it  was  practised  by  the  ancient 
Arabs — the  great  Arabian  peninsula  is  the  primeval 
home  of  the  Semite,  and  therefore  circumcision  must 
have  been  practised  many  centuries,  perhaps  milleniums, 
before  the  time  of  Abraham — by  native  African  tribes, 
by  the  aborigines  of  Australia,  by  the  Polynesians,  and 
by  many  Central  American  races  ;  its  extreme  antiquity 
is  further  witnessed  to  by  the  Old  Testament  in  that  we 
are  here  told  that  the  rite  was  performed  with  a  flint 
(Ex.  4^5;  Jos.  5^).  What  its  real  origin  was  is  still 
a  matter  of  controversy  among  scholars,  for  it  is  very 
difficult  to  get  at  the  back  of  the  mind  of  primitive  man. 
There  are  five  theories :  that  it  was  a  tribal  mark,  that  it 
was  of  the  nature  of  an  offering  to  the  deity,  that  hygienic 
motives  lay  at  the  root  of  it,  that  it  was  done  to  secure 
life  in  the  world  to  come,  and  that  it  was  a  necessary 
prehminary  to  marriage.  This  variety  of  theory  shows 
how  complicated  the  problem  is,  for  each  theory  is 
supported  by  scholarly  and  very  weighty  arguments. 

The  main  point,  however,  about  the  custom  among 
the  Jews  is  that  it  is  a  religious  observance,  and   herein 


REDEMPTION   OF   THE   FIRST-BORN       409 

it  is,  at  all  events  at  the  present  day,  almost  unique.^ 
In  accordance  with  the  command  given  in  Gen.  17^2^ 
the  child  is  circumcized  on  the  eighth  day  after  birth 
(cf.  Luke  i59,  2^1;  Acts  f ;  Gal.  4* ;  Phil.  3^),  and 
it  is  usual  to  give  a  name  at  the  same  time  (cf.  Luke 
2^^)}  At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era  the 
ceremony  was  performed  in  the  house,  later  on  the  child 
was  brought  to  the  Synagogue  for  the  purpose,  nowadays 
the  earlier  custom  is  in  vogue,  and  the  minister  and  the 
Mohel  (the  certificated  official  who  performs  the  rite) 
come  to  the  home.^ 

According  to  Rabbinical  teaching  Circumcision  sanctifies, 
and  it  is  this  sanctification  which  differentiates  the  Jews 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  it  is  said 
that  if  a  Gentile  kept  the  whole  of  the  Law,  but  was  not 
circumcized  it  would  profit  him  nothing  {Debarim  rahhali, 
c.  i).  The  term  "Covenant  People"  is  applied  because 
the  Jews  have  observed  the  sign  of  the  covenant.  The 
fact  of  having  been  circumcized  is  believed  to  be 
meritorious  per  se  in  the  sight  of  God. 

II.  Redemption  of  the  First-born. 
In  accordance  with  the  command  given  in  Exodus  13^', 
All  the  first-horn  of  man  among  thy  sons  shalt  thou 
redeem,  it  has  always  been  the  custom  among  the  Jews 
to  "  redeem  "  the  first-bom  child,  provided  that  the 
first-bom  is  a  son  ;  that  is  to  say,  if  the  first-born  child 
is  a  daughter,  and  the  second  a  son,  then  there  is  no  need 
to  redeem  him  ;  the  command  only  applies  in  cases 
where  a  mother's  first  child  is  a  boy.  This  ceremony, 
which  takes  place  in  the  Synagogue,  is  technically  known 
as  Pidyon  ha-hen,  "  Redemption  of  the  (first-born)  son  "  ;  * 

1  See  Ploss,  Das  Kind  in  Branch  tmd  Sitte  der  Volker,  i,  pp.  299  f. 

*  Girls  receive  names  on  the  day  of  birth. 
'  Sec  Singer,   pp.   304-307. 

*  See  Luke  2"-2^-2'28.  Yot  the  practice,  among  modem 
Arabs,  of  "  redeeming "  their  children,  see  Curtiss,  Primitive 
Semitic  Religion  To-day,  pp.   194-204. 


410    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

and  it  has  to  be  performed  thirty  days  after  birth,  this 
being  the  command  contained  in  Num.  i8  le  ;  the 
price  of  redemption  is  five  selaim  or  shekels,  equivalent 
to  fifteen  shilhngs  of  our  money  ;  this  payment  is  hkewise 
commanded  in  the  Old  Testament  (Num.  3*^  iS^^).  In 
the  Synagogue -service  the  father  of  the  child,  after  having 
made  the  declaration  that  the  child  is  his  first-bom 
son  and  having  acknowledged  the  obligation  to  redeem 
him,  places  before  the  Cohen  ("  Priest  ")  the  redemption- 
money  ;  whereupon  the  Cohen  asks  :  "  Which  wouldst 
thou  rather,  give  me  thy  first-bom  son,  the  first-bom  of 
his  mother,  or  redeem  him  for  five  selaim,  which  thou 
art  bound  to  give  according  to  the  Law  ?  "  The  father 
replies  :  "  T  desire  rather  to  redeem  my  son,  and  here 
thou  hast  the  value  of  his  redemption,  which  I  am  bound 
to  give  according  to  the  Law."  When  the  Cohen  takes 
the  redemption -money,  he  holds  it  over  the  head  of  the 
child,  and  says  :  "  This  is  instead  of  that,  this  in  com- 
mutation for  that,  this  in  remission  for  that  "  ;  and  after 
having  pronounced  a  Benediction,  while  placing  his  hand 
on  the  child's  head,  the  service  is  brought  to  an  end.' 
When  one  inquires  into  the  meaning  of  this  service, 
there  are  several  questions  that  suggest  themselves : 
Why,  and  from  whom,  or  what,  has  the  child  to  be 
redeemed  ?  Why  is  it  only  the  first-born  male- child 
that  has  to  be  redeemed  ?  Why  are  female  children  not 
redeemed  ?  To  answer  these  questions  adequately  would 
take  too  long  here  ;  we  can  only  deal  with  them  very 
briefly.  The  whole  idea  of  this  "  redemption,"  or 
"  buying  back  again,"  is  the  mitigation  of  an  extremely 
barbarous,  but  very  ancient,  custom,  which  was  at  one 
time  universal  among  the  Semites,  namely  <^the  offering- 
up,  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  deity,  of  the  first-born  son  ;  if 
it  be  asked  why  this  was  done,  the  answer  will  be  seen 
in  the  following  extract : 

1  Singer,  pp.  308,  309. 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   RITE  411 

One  of  the  fundamental  ideas  with  regard  to  Jehovah 
in  early  Israel  was  that  of  His  being  owner  of  the  land, 
and  consequently  lord  also  of  all  that  the  land  brought 
forth  and  of  all  that  lived  upon  it  (Lev.  25^3  ;  Ps.  so'"'^^). 
Closely  connected  with  this  idea  was  a  further  one 
to  the  effect  that  the  land  was  held  in  tenure  ;  Jehovah 
was  the  landowner,  His  people  the  tenants  ;  but  their 
tenanc}'  depended  solely  on  the  Will  of  Jehovah  (Deut. 
20^",  etc.).^  As  lord  of  the  land  and  giver  of  all  that 
it  produced,  tribute  was  due  to  Him  ;  this  tribute  took 
the  form  of  the  offering  of  first-fruits. 2  Not  only,  how- 
ever, was  the  land  Jehovah's  possession,  but  the  people 
who  lived  upon  it,  and  upon  its  produce,  were  hkewise 
His  ;  this  would  follow  naturally  by  virtue  of  Jehovah's 
overlordship.  Therefore,  just  as  Jehovah,  being  owner 
of  the  land,  received  the  first-fruits  of  its  produce  as  tribute 
due  to  Him,  so,  being  also  owner  of  the  people,  did  He 
receive  the  first-bom  as,  in  the  same  way,  a  tribute  due 
to  Him.  This  is  not  definitely  stated  in  the  Bible,  but 
the  notices  of  child-sacrifice  lead  us  to  infer  that  at  some 
early  period  the  rite  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  first-bom  was 
performed,  and  the  analogy  of  the  offering  up  of  the 
firstlings  of  the  flock  points  to  a  similar  usage  with 
regard  to  man  (Exod.  13^,  12^^,  34^°)  ;  moreover, 
the  prevalence  of  the  practice  among  ethnologically 
allied  races  makes  it  in  a  high  degree  probable  that 
originally  the  descendants  of  Abram  sacrificed  their 
first-born  as  a  tribute  to  the  Deity.  Some  examples 
of  Semitic  peoples  offering  up  their  first-bom  sons  are  : 
the  Moabites  (2  Kings  32")  ;  the  early  Arabs  (see 
Wellhausen,  Reste  arabischen  Heidenthums,  pp.  115,  116)  ; 

1  This  Old  Testament  conception  is  illustrated  in  the  Gospels 
by  the  parable  of  the  Wicked  Husbandmen  (Matt.  22*^  ff.  and 
parallel  passages  ;    cf.  also  Mark  13^*). 

'  It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  this  was  adapted  to 
agricultural  life  from  the  earlier  nomadic  life  with  its  flocks  and 
herds  (cf.,  Nowack,  Hebrdische  Archdologie,  ii,  pp.   147  ff). 


412    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

the  Canaanites  (this  is  shown  abundantly  by  the  recent 
excavations  on  the  site  of  ancient  Gezer  by  the  "  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,"  see  Quarterly  Statement  for  the  years 
1903  ff.  passim),  the  Phoenicians  (Rawlinson,  History 
of  Phcenicia,  ch.  xi).i  Thus  the  first-bom  son  was 
regarded  as  the  property  of  Jehovah,  from  Whom  he 
had  to  be  "  redeemed,"  or  bought.  The  reason  why 
only  this  one  child  was  to  be  redeemed  goes  back  to 
the  ancient  ideas  of  the  first  being  the  best,  and  the 
representative  of  the  rest.  The  reason  why  first-born 
girls  need  not  be  redeemed  is  because,  in  Rehgion,  fe- 
males do  not  count  ;  see  further  on  the  point  §  ix  of 
this  Chapter. 

III.  The  Dietary  Laws. 
In  accordance  with  the  long  lists,  in  Lev.  11,  Deut. 
14,  of  "  unclean "  animals  which  the  IsraeUtes  were 
forbidden  to  eat,  it  has  been  a  religious  custom  among 
orthodox  Jews  in  all  ages  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  certain 
foods  ;  and  the  laws  which  embody  the  prohibitions 
are  called  the  "  Dietary  Laws."  The  Rabbis  explained 
these  commands  to  abstain  from  "  unclean  "  food  in 
the  following  way  :  "  These  commands  were  given 
with  the  highest  of  all  objects — for  the  sake  of  the  purity 
which  obedience  to  them  imparts  to  the  moral  life  "  ;  ^ 
or  again,  "  The  ideal  Jew  does  not  say,  '  I  have  no  desire 
to  eat  swine's  flesh,  no  desire  to  indulge  any  sensual 
cravings  ;  I  desire,  but  I  will  conquer  the  desire  for 
the  sake  of  my  Father  which  is  in  Heaven.'  For  to  keep 
aloof  from  sin  is  the  true  separateness,^  and  only  to  such 
as  painfully  wrestle  with  temptation  cometh  the  Kingdom 

1  Oesterley  in  Hastings  Diet,  of  Christ  and  the  Gospels,  i,  597, 
and  compare  the  same  writer's  art.  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Soc 
of  Bibl.  Archaeology,  xxiv,  pp.  253  fi. 

2  Bereshith  Rabhah,  c.  xUv,  quoted  by  M.  Joseph,  Judaism  as 
Creed  and  Life,  p.   184. 

»  The  idea  of  "  separateness  "  in  Hebrew  connotes  that  of 
"  sanctification." 


THE   DIETARY   LAWS  413 

of  God."  '  Later  on,  Maimonides  taught  that  they 
were  intended  as  a  training  in  self-mastery  ;  that  they 
habituate  men  to  curb  carnal  desires  ;  that  they  rebuke 
the  temper  that  makes  sensual  pleasure  an  aim  in  life. 
More  cautiously,  Nachmanides  said  that  these  ordinances 
of  the  Pentateuch,  though  their  purpose  may  not  be 
explicitly  set  forth,  are  "  meant  for  the  good  of  man  "  ; 
they  are  either  "  to  keep  us  aloof  from  something  hurtful, 
or  to  educate  us  in  goodness,"  ^  according  to  a  modem 
teacher.  Another  authoritative  Jewish  teacher  says  : 
"  The  Dietary  Laws.  .  .  may  help  to  maintain  Jewish 
separateness ;  they  may  preserve  the  idea  of  Israel's 
consecration  ;  they  may  exert  a  powerful  influence 
upon  personal  purity.  They  are  even  more  than  this — 
they  are  vital  objects.  The  consciousness  of  being  an 
elect  people,  and  the  power  of  setting  an  example  to  the 
world  of  personal  holiness,  are  ahke  essential  to  the 
fulfilment  of  our  Divinely-appointed  errand.  Every 
law  that  strengthens  these  quahties  merits  respect  and 
obedience.  It  is  a  law  which  still  fulfils  a  great  purpose. 
It  is  a  living  law,  and  therefore  a  law  that  deserves  to 
live."  ^  These  are  the  reasons  given  for  observing  the 
"  Dietary  Laws  "  ;  the  original  reason  was,  however,  a 
stronger  one,  and  this  may  perhaps  be  explained  best 
in  the  following  way.  There  were  two  sets  of  ideas  in 
the  antique  world  of  thought — both  of  which  come  from 
a  common  ancestry,  most  probably — which  have  to  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  this  connexion.  In  the  first 
place  Totemism  ;  it  is  quite  impossible  to  deal  here 
with  this  subject,  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  this  refers 
to  the  belief  that  different  clans  are  descended  from 
different  animals  (sometimes  also  from  plants)  ;  the 
particular  animal  from  which  a  clan  was  believed  to  be 
descended  was  therefore  "  taboo  "    to  all  the  members 

>  M.  Joseph,  op.  cit.  p.   184. 

•  Schechter,  Studies  ifi  Judaism,  p.   151. 

»  M.  Joseph,  op.  cit.,  p.   185. 


414     SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND    WORSHIP 

of  that  clan  ;  they  would  not  harm  it,  much  less  kill 
it  or  eat  it^,  because,  according  to  the  ideas  of  the  times, 
they  would  be  damaging  the  life  of  the  clan  if  the}^  did 
so,  and  all  the  members  of  the  clan  would  suffer  in  con- 
sequence ;  the  animal  in  question  was  the  "  Totem  "- 
animal.  The  fundamental  principle  of  "  Totemism " 
is  blood-relationship  between  an  animal  species  and  a 
tribe  or  clan  ;  the  latter  was  then  called  after  the  former. 
Animal  names  for  tribes  in  the  Old  Testament  are  not 
unknown,  e.g.,  the  Calebites  =  "  Dogs  "  [And  Ephah, 
Caleb's  concubine,  bare  Haran,  i  Chron.  2^^,  see  Josh. 
14^*  ;  I  Sam.  30^*,  etc.)  ;  we  know  from  other  sources 
that  the  dog  was  holy  to  the  Harranians,  who  offered 
sacrificial  gifts  to  it  (cf.  Is.  66^)  ;  again,  we  read  of 
the  proper  name  ^c^6o;'=:"  Mouse,"  in  Gen.  36^^, 
and  others.  Numbers  of  parallels  are  to  be  found  all 
over  the  world  among  savage  tribes,  in  which  there  can 
be  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  animal-name  of  the  tribe 
denotes  descent  from  such  animal ;  "  that  the  names 
are  mere  accidents  or  mere  metaphors  is  an  assumption 
which  can  seem  plausible  only  to  those  who  do  not  know 
savage  ways  of  thought."  ^  It  is  therefore,  in  part,  due 
to  unconscious  remnants  of  Totemistic  conceptions 
that  the  prohibitions,  referred  to  above,  find  their  place 
in  the  Old  Testament.  But,  though  connected  with  tliis, 
there  is  probably  a  more  immediate  cause.  All  gods  and 
goddesses  in  ancient  times  had  animals  who  were  "  holy  " 
to  them;  the  origin  of  this  is  probably  to  be  sought, 
in  part,  in  the  theory  of  deified  Totems  ;  but  whether 
this  was  so  or  not  is  immaterial  for  our  present  purpose ; 
the  fact  remains  that  certain  animals  were  "  holy " 
to  certain  gods  or  goddesses  ;  thus  the  hare  was  "  holy  " 
to  Astarte  (Ashtoreth),  ^  the  pig  was  "  holy  "  to  Attis, 

1  Excepting  on  very  special  occasions. 

•  Robertson  Smith,  Kinship  .   .  .,  p.  237. 

2  See  The  Churchman,  "  Why  was  the  hare  considered  unclean 
among  the  Israelites  ?  "     Dec,   1903,  pp.  146  ff. 


THE   "SHECHITAIP'  415 

fish  were  "  holy  "  to  Atargatis,  and  so  on  ;  and  to  eat 
of  the  "  holy  "  animal  was  to  profess  allegiance  to  its 
deity.  So  that,  to  express  it  quite  briefly,  the  pro- 
hibitions contained  in  Lev.  ii,  Deut  14  were — apart 
from  all  original  significations — in  reality  put  forth  in 
the  interests  of  Jehovah- worship  to  the  exclusion 
of  heathen  cults.  And  this  reason  was  an  all-sufficient 
one  ;  for  that  the  prohibitions  were  sorely  needed,  will 
be  clear  to  any  one  who  realizes  how  prone,  according 
to  the  witness  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Israehtes  were 
to  take  part  in  ahen  cults.  The  "  Dietary  Laws  "  will 
thus  be  seen  to  have  a  very  long  history  behind  them. 
In  connexion  with  this  subject  mention  may  be  made 
of  what  is  called  the  Shechitah,  i.e.,  the  ritual  slaughtering 
of  animals  which  are  used  for  food.  The  Shochet  ("  slaugh- 
terer ")  is  required  to  pass  a  severe  examination  in  all 
the  laws  and  usages  of  his  calling  before  he  can  exercise 
his  functions — even  after  having  entered  upon  his  duties 
he  is  required  to  keep  himself  au  fait  by  reviewing 
the  laws  of  Shechitah  at  least  once  a  month.  A  special 
knife  [Challaph)  is  used  for  slaughtering  which  has  to 
be  at  least  twice  as  long  as  the  width  of  the  throat  of 
the  animal  about  to  be  slaughtered.  A  prayer  is  said 
before  the  animal  is  killed  :  "  Blessed  art  Thou.  .  . 
who  sanctified  us  with  His  commandments  and  com- 
manded us  concerning  slaughtering."  The  act  of 
slaughtering  according  to  the  law  consists  in  severing 
the  windpipe  ;  and  the  underlying  idea  of  the  whole 
process  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  some  of  the  blood  which 
has  been  shed  has  to  be  covered  with  earth  (cf.  Lev.  17^^) 
and  the  following  words  have  to  be  pronounced  :  "  Blessed 
art  Thou.  .  .  Who  has  sanctified  us  with  His  command- 
ments and  commanded  us  to  cover  blood  with  earth." 
The  real  purpose  is  to  remove  the  blood,  in  accordance 
with  the  command  given  in  Lev.  7^*'  2^  And  ye 
shall  eat  no  manner  of  blood,  whether  it  he  of  fowl  or  of 
beast.  .  .  ;   the  reason  for  this  is  given  in  Lev.   17^^'  " ; 


416    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP 

The  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood  .  ,  .it  is  the 
blood  that  maketh  atonement  by  reason  of  the  life.  .  .  For 
as  to  the  life  of  all  flesh,  the  blood  thereof  is  all  one  with 
the  life  thereof.  .  .  for  the  life  of  all  flesh  is  the  blood  thereof. 
So  that  the  reason  why  it  was  forbidden  to  taste  blood 
was  because  by  doing  so  the  Hfe  of  the  animal  would  be 
absorbed  by  the  eater,  and  this  would  mean  the  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  the  animal  ;  for  the  same  reason 
"  things  strangled  "  were  forbidden,  because  there  was 
no  possibility  of  the  blood  flowing  away  (cf.  Acts  15^"  ^^, 
21^^).  That  is,  very  briefly,  the  origin  and  raison 
d'etre  of  the  Shechitah. 

IV.  "  Kapparath-Schlag." 
This  name  illustrates  what  is  aptly  termed  the  "  Jar- 
gon "  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  Jews  at  the  present 
day  ;  "  Kapparath  "  (correctly  "  Kapparah  ")  signifies 
a  "  means  of  atonement,"  from  the  Hebrew  root  meaning 
"  to  cover,"  i.e.,  sin  (cf.  Yow  Kippur,  "  day  of  Atone- 
ment ")  ;  "  Schlag  "  is  the  ordinary  German  word  for 
a  "  blow."  The  expression  is  employed  in  reference  to 
an  animal  used  as  "  a  sort  of  vicarious  sacrifice  on  the 
day  previous  to  the  Day  of  Atonement.  As  a  rule,  a 
cock  is  taken  by  a  male,  and  a  hen  by  a  female  person  ; 
and  after  the  recitation  of  Ps.  io7i'"2o  ^nd  Job  33^^"^^ 
the  fowl  is  swung  round  the  head  three  times 
while  the  right  hand  is  put  upon  the  animal's  head. 
At  the  same  time  the  following  is  thrice  said  in  Hebrew  : 
'  This  be  my  substitute,  my  vicarious  offering,  my 
atonement.  This  cock  [or  hen]  shall  meet  death,  but  I 
shall  find  a  long  and  pleasant  life  of  peace.'  After  this 
the  animal  is  slaughtered  and  given  to  the  poor,  or, 
what  is  deemed  better,  is  eaten  by  the  owners  while  the 
value  of  it  is  given  to  the  poor."  ^  Whenever  possible 
a  white  fowl  is  used,  because  of  the  words  in  Is.   i^^, 

1  JE,  vii,  435. 


"PEYOTH"  417 

Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as 
snow.  .  .  ;  sometimes  a  ram  is  slaughtered  instead,  in 
reference  to  the  ram  caught  in  a  thicket  (Gen.  22^^). 
The  ceremony  is  interesting  as  being  the  sohtary  remnant 
among  modem  European  Jews  of  their  ancient  sacrificial 
system  ;  the  cock  is  the  modern  counterpart  of  the 
scapegoat. 

V.  "  Peyoth." 
Among  some  of  the  ultra-orthodox  Jews,  especially 
in  Poland,  it  is  customary  for  the  men  to  wear  hair- 
ringlets  [Peyoth,  often  pronounced  pyus)  ;  these  are 
long  curls  which  hang  down  at  each  ear.  This  is  done 
in  accordance  with  the  command  in  Lev.  19^^,  Ye  shall  not 
round  the  corners  of  your  heads,  neither  shalt  thou  mar  the 
corners  of  thy  beard;  cf.  Jer.  (f^  (v.  25  in  Heb.).  No 
reason  is  given  by  modern  Jews  for  this  custom  other  than 
the  Biblical  prohibition  ;  but  this  latter  is  to  be  explained 
as  a  reference  to  a  widespread  heathen  rite,  according 
to  which  it  was  customary  to  lay  one's  hair  upon  the 
tomb  as  a  sign  of  union  with  the  departed.  In  antiquity 
the  hair  was  always  regarded  as  pre-eminently  part  of 
oneself,  so  that  to  offer  hair  was  the  surrogate  for  offering 
oneself.  That  in  the  passage  Lev.  19 ^'^  it  is  a  question 
of  doing  something  in  honour  of  the  dead  is  clear  from 
the  context,  which  goes  on  to  say.  Ye  shall  not  make  any 
cuttings  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead,  nor  print  any  marks 
upon  you.  It  is  well  known  that  hair  offerings  to  the 
dead  were  common  among  the  Semites  as  well  as  among 
other  peoples  ;  thus  Arab  women  laid  their  hair  on  the 
tombs  of  the  dead,'  Achilles  laid  his  hair  in  the  hand 
of  the  dead  Patroclus.-  But  it  is  equally  certain  that 
hair  was  cut  off  and  brought  as  an  offering  to  heathen 

*  Wellhausen,  Reste.  .  .  p.  182.     Robertson  Smith,  Religion  of 
the  Semites,   p.  325. 

*  Ibid,  note,  cf.  Lagrange,  Etudes  sur  les  religions  Semitiques, 
p.  278. 

26-(j4'7) 


418    SYNAGOGUE    RELIGION  AND  WORSHIP 

deities  ;  Ephrem  Syms,  in  commenting  on  Lev.  19", 
says,  for  example,  that  "  it  was  the  custom  of  the  heathen 
to  let  their  hair  grow  for  a  certain  time,  and  then  on  a 
fixed  day  to  shave  the  beard  in  a  temple  or  beside  a 
sacred  fountain."  It  is  no  doubt  in  reference  to  something 
of  this  kind  that  we  read  in  Ezek.  4^0,  Neither  shall 
they  shave  their  heads,  nor  suffer  their  locks  to  grow  long  ; 
they  shall  only  poll  their  heads.  There  are  thus  two 
distinct  rites  in  connexion  with  hair  offerings  referred 
to  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  modern  "  Peyoth " 
would  seem  to  trace  their  origin  to  the  prohibition  to 
cut  off  the  "  corners  "  of  the  beard  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  them  as  offerings  to  the  dead  ;  there  is  no 
vestige  in  the  modern  custom  of  anything  that  would 
point  to  the  other  alternative. 

VI.  Phylacteries  ("  r^^//fw  ") . 
This  Greek  word,  meaning  "  guards,"  is  the  equivalent 
for  either  the  Hebrew  word  Tefillah,  "  prayer,"  or  more 
probably,  for  the  same  word  in  Aramaic,^  where,  however, 
it  signifies  "  ornament "  ;  it  was  used  to  translate  the 
Hebrew  word  for  "  frontlets  "  {Totdfoth).  These  Tefillin 
are  worn  in  accordance  with  the  Jewish  interpretation 
of  the  words  in  Deut.  6^ :  And  thou  shalt  hind  them 
(i.e.  the  words  of  God)  for  a  sign  upon  thine  hand,  and 
they  shall  be  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes  (cf.  Deut.  11^^; 
Exod.  13^'^^).  This  literal  interpretation,  however,  has 
not  always  been  accepted  without  protest  in  Rabbinical 
circles,  many  Rabbis  holding  that  the  general  law 
only  was  expressed  in  the  Bible,  the  application  and 
elaboration  of  it  being  entirely  matters  of  tradition 
and  inference.2  But  in  spite  of  this,  "  there  are  more 
laws — ascribed  to  oral  delivery  by  God  to  Moses — 
clustering  about  the  institution  of  TefilUn  than  about 


1  It  is  used  in  the  Targums  as  the  equivalent  of  "  Phylactery." 

2  Sanhedrin  88'^  ;    sec  JE,  x,  21. 


"  TEFILLIN  "  419 

any  other  institution  of  Judaism."  ^     There  are  two  kinds 
of    Tefilltn  ;     the    Hand-    or    Arni-Tefillah    (technically 
known  as  Shel  Yad  or  Slid  Zeroa),  and  the  Head-Tefillah 
(technically  known  as  Shel  Rosh)  ;  they  each  consist  of 
a  little  black  square  box-  made  of  the  skin  of  a  "  clean  " 
animal  ;     fastened  to   each   box  underneath  is   a  piece 
of  thick  leather,  this  is  sewn  to  the  box  with  threads 
made  from  the  veins  of  "  clean  "    animals  ;    to  each 
box  there  are  also  fixed  long  straps  of  leather,  likewise 
made    from   the   skins   of   "  clean "     animals,    whereby 
it  is  attached  to  the  arm  or  head.     Each  box  contains 
the     following     passages :      Exod.      131-10^11-16  .     Deut. 
54-9^     jji3-2i .     these    are    written    in    Hebrew     {Leshon 
/ia-Kodesh  =  "  the  Holy  Tongue  ")  upon  parchment  made 
from  the  skin  of  a  "  clean  "    animal ;    in  the  case  of  the 
Hand-TefiUah,  which  consists  of  only  one   compartment, 
all  four  passages  are  written  on  a  single  piece  of  parch- 
ment,   while     for    the    Head-Tefillah    which     has    four 
compartments,  four  pieces  of   parchment  are  required, 
upon   each   of  which  one   of  the   Scripture   passages  is 
written.      A    peculiarity    about     the    Head-Tefillah    is 
that  on  the  right  and  left  sides  of  the  box  the  Hebrew 
letter  "  shin  "    [w)   is  inscribed,  on  the  right  side  with 
three  strokes  or  prongs,  on  the  left  with  four,  to  correspond 
with  the  four  little  pieces    of    parchment  inside  ;    this 
letter  is  the  first  of  the  Hebrew  Shaddai  (  =  "  Almighty  "), 
the  second  (t)  and  third  (r)  letters  of  this  word  are  formed 
by  the  strap  which  fixes  the  little  box  to  the  head.     The 
technical  term  used  for  putting  on  the    Tefillin    is    to 
"  lay  "   them,  and  minute  directions  have  to  be  observed 
when  this  is  done  ;    the  Hand-  or  Arm-Tefillah  is  laid 
first,  it  is  fixed  on  the  inner  part  of  the  left  arm  just 
above  the  elbow,  the  arm  must  be  bare  when  this  is  done, 
and  the  Tefillah  is  fastened  to  it  by  a  strap  which  has 


*  Sanhedrin  88*^  ;  see  JE^  x,  22. 

*  The  size  of  each  box  is  two  fingers'  breadth  each  way. 


420    SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND  WORSHIP 

to  be  wound  round  it  seven  times,  as  well  as  three  times 
round  the  middle  finger  of  the  left  hand.  The  Head- 
Tefillah  is  laid  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead,  the  strap 
going  round  the  head,  and  the  ends  of  the  strap  falling 
down  over  the  shoulders  in  front.  Prayers  are  said  during 
the  laying  and  during  the  taking  off  of  the  Tefillm  ;  they 
are  worn  during  the  daily  morning  service,  but  not  on 
Sabbaths  or  Holy  days,  because  these  are  themselves 
"  signs,"  which  makes  it  unnecessary  to  wear  them,  for 
they  are  also  "signs"  (cf.  Exod.  i^^''^^).  Originally 
they  were  worn  all  day.  Only  men,  and  boys  from  the 
age  of  thirteen  years  onwards,  wear  Tefillin ;  they 
are  forbidden  to  women.  Every  Jew  has  a  little  bag 
in  which  the  Tefillin  are  kept,  sometimes  the  bag  is 
beautifully  decorated  with  embroidery.  Tefillin  have 
been  worn  since  the  third  century  B.C.,  possibly  earlier 
still ;  the  writer  of  the  Letter  of  Aristeas,  and  Josephus 
both  imply  that  the  custom  was  introduced  by  Moses, 
they  must  therefore  have  believed  them  to  be  very 
ancient.  1 

Of  the  origin  of  the  Tefillin  there  can  be  little  doubt  ; 
the  Totaphoth  (for  which  Tefillin  is  used  in  Talmudic 
literature)  were  amulets  worn  as  safeguards  against 
demons  ^ ;  the  name  Phylacteries  (cf.  Matt.  23^) 
impUes  a  similar  idea.  The  behef  in  the  ubiquity  of 
demons,  which  has  been  universal  up  to  within  quite 
recent  times,  required  special  safeguards,  of  which 
Tefillin  were  an  example.  There  are  some  special 
reasons  for  this  opinion,  which  cannot,  however,  be 
dealt  with  here  in  detail  ;  but  students  of  Demonology 
will  appreciate  the  significance  of  two  things,  in  particular, 
about  the  Tefillin ;  firstly,  the  knotted  straps  (see 
further  section  vii  of  this  Chapter),  and  secondly,  the 


1  Letter  of  Aristeas  159.     Antiq.  IV,  viii,  13. 

2  See  the  art.  "  The  Demonology  of  the  Old  Testament,"    in 
the  Expositor,  June,   1907. 


"  FRINGES  "  421 

inscribed  Hebrew  letter  on  the  Head-Tefillah :  it  is 
important  to  notice  that  this  is  on  the  Tefillah  on 
which  it  can  be  seen — which  would  not  be  the  case  if 
inscribed  on  the  Arm-Tefillah—ior  anything  that  was 
thought  likely  to  attract  the  look  of  a  demon  and  thus 
draw  off  his  attention  from  the  person  himself,  was 
considered  good,  especially  when,  as  in  this  case,  that 
which  was  intended  to  attract  the  demon's  attentioo 
was  the  name  Shaddai,  formed  by  the  inscribed  letter 
and  the  twisted  leather  bands— the  "  Almighty,"  under 
whose  protection  the  wearer  was.  It  is,  indeed,  not 
improbable  that  this  inscribed  letter  was  the  original 
cause  of  the  name  "  Phylactery."  Things  of  an  analagous 
character  were  worn  by  other  peoples.^ 


VII.    Praying-Shawl  (TALtxH)  and  Fringes  (Tsitsith). 

When  orthodox  Jews  say  their  prayers  they  wear  a 
silken  shawl  with  "  fringes  "  attached  to  the  four  comers. 
This  is  done  in  obedience  to  the  command  given  in  Deut. 
22^2^  Thou  shall  ynake  Ihee  fringes  upon  Ihe  four  corners 
of  thy  veslure  wherewilh  Ihou  coveresl  Ihyself.  The  word 
"  fringes "  means  really  "  twisted  cords,"  what  we 
should  describe  as  tassels ;  in  Num.  15^^'*",  this 
commandment  is  explained  in  the  words  :  It  (i.e.,  the 
"  fringe  "  or  "  tassel  ")  shall  he  unto  you  for  a  fringe 
("  tsitsith  ")  that  ye  may  look  upon  it,  and  remember  all 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  and  do  them.  The  original 
form  was  probably  a  tassel  hanging  at  each  end  of  the 
four  comers  of  the  outer  garment,  to  which  it  was  attached 
by  a  blue  cord,  in  obedience  to  the  words  of  Num.  I5^^ 
that  they  put  upon  the  fringe  of  each  border  a  cord  of 
blue^  The  garment  itself  was  a  large  piece  of  Hnen  or 
wool  covering  the  whole  body,  the  loose  end  of  which 

1  See,  e.g.,  the  art.  in  the  Expositor  referred  to  above. 
*  Cf.  Matt.  235  and   otlier  passages. 


422    SYNAGOGUE    l^ELIGION  AND  WORSHIP 

hung  over  the  left  shoulder ;  i  it  probably  resembled 
the  long  cloak  which  the  Bedouin  Arabs  wear  at  the 
present  day.  The  name  of  the  modem  form  of  this  gar- 
ment, Talith  is  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  crToX>/  (  =  stole)  ; 
its  present  shape  and  size  have  undergone  modification, 
for  in  course  of  time,  and  owing  in  great  measure  to 
persecution,  it  was  found  necessary  to  conceal  the  tassels 
attached  to  it  ;  for  these,  as  we  have  seen,  hung  to  the 
outer  garment  ;  therefore  a  new  method  was  devised 
whereby  the  "  fringes  "  could  be  hidden,  and  yet  the 
demands  of  the  Law  be  fulfilled.  The  "  fringes  "  were 
attached  to  a  smaller  garment,  but  large  enough  to 
cover  the  breast  and  the  back,  it  has  a  hole  in  the  centre 
for  the  head  to  pass  through  ;  this  was  worn  under  the 
ordinary  clothing,  and  therefore  could  not  be  seen.  This 
garment,  which  is  still  worn  by  all  orthodox  Jews,  is 
called  'Arha'  Kanfoth,  "  Four  Corners,"  in  reference 
to  the  four  comers  mentioned  in  Deut.  22^^ ;  it  is 
known  also  as  the  "  Little  Tahth  "  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  ordinary  or  "  Large  Talith."  The  Talith 
proper — the  lineal  descendant  of  the  ancient  "  garment 
with  fringes  " — is  used  only  in  the  Synagogue,  where 
it  is  worn  over  the  head,  and  is  called  the  "  Praying 
Shawl  "  ;  the  fringes  or  "  Tsitsith  "  are  now  attached  to 
it  again,  as  there  is  no  occasion  to  keep  them  concealed 
any  more  ;  but  the  custom  of  wearing  them  on  the  "  Little 
Tallith  "  is  kept  up  still,  so  that  both  garments  have 
them  nowadays.  A  prayer  is  said  before  putting  on 
each.  While  the  ordinary  Talith  originated  by  adopting 
an  everyday  garment  to  a  specifically  rehgious  use,  some- 
what after  the  manner  of  the  Christian  stole,  the  origin 
of  the  Tsitsith  or  twisted  cord  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
"  Phylacteries."     Chief  among  the  symboHc  acts  whereby, 


1  The  tassel  attached  to  this  corner  was,  doubtless,  the  "  hem  " 
or  "  border"  of  the  garment  touched  by  the  woman  with  the  issue 
of  blood.  Matt.  92 ",  cf.   i^'K 


SWAYING   THE   BODY  423 

in  antiquity,  it  was  sought  to  counteract  demoniacal 
activity,  was  the  tying  and  untying  of  a  knot  ;  this,  on 
the  principle  of  imitative  magic,  represented  that  a 
man  who  had  been  "  bound  "  ^  by  a  demon  was  by 
the  symbolic  act  "  unbound  "  or  released  ;  and  thus,  by 
the  process  of  counteraction  by  synthesis,  was  developed 
the  idea  that  anything  twisted  or  knotted  was  in  the 
nature  of  an  amulet,  and  exercised  a  deterrent  effect  upon 
demons. 

VIII.  Swaying  the  Body. 
It  has  been  the  custom  in  time  past,  as  it  still  is  among 
many  oriental  Jews  and  among  those  of  eastern  Europe, 
to  sway  the  body  whilst  studying,  and  especially  whilst 
praying.  Very  diverse  reasons  have  been  given  for  this 
strange  custom,  the  quaintest  of  which  is  assuredly  that 
which  explains  it  as  a  visible  and  literal  carrying  out  of 
the  Psalmist's  words.  All  my  bones  shall  say,  Lord  who 
is  like  unto  Thee  (Ps.  35^"),  i.e.,  an  act  of  praise  on 
the  part  of  the  bones  !  It  is  more  reasonable  to  trace 
the  origin  of  the  custom  to  the  species  of  frenzy  which 
seized  the  ancient  Nabi  {"  Prophet  ")  when  he  felt  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  coming  upon  him ;  the  modern  "  Dancing 
Dervishes  "  offer,  in  reality,  an  analogous  phenomenon. 
Dancing  has  always  been  a  religious  act  in  days  gone 
by,  as  it  is  among  many  savage  tribes  to-day  ;  -  among 
the  Israelites  we  have  instances  in  i  Sam.  30^^,  where 
the  word  for  dancing  means  hteraUy  "  to  keep  the  feast," 
and  in  2  Sam.  6^^,  where  we  read  of  David  dancing 
before  the  Lord  "  with  all  his  might."  ^  This  swaying 
of  the  body  is,  therefore,  as  we  conceive,  a  faint  remnant 
of  the  rehgious  dance. 

1  Cf.  Luke  131*,  .  .  .  whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo,  these 
eighteen  years.  .  .  . 

*  See,  e.g.,  Reville,  op.  cit.,  p.  123.  Jevons,  Introduction  to  the 
History  of  Religion,  p.   174. 

3  Cf.  also  the  "  Torch-Dance  "  in  the  Temple  at  the  end  of  the 
first  day  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  see  Chap,  xix,  §  iii. 


424    SYNAGOGUE  RELIGION   AND    WORSHIP 

IX.  The  Marriage -Chuppah, 
From  the  point  of  view  of  folk-lore  this  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  religious  customs  among  the  Jews. 
The  modern  Chuppah  is  a  canopy  of  cloth  supported  by 
poles,  under  which  the  bride  and  bridegroom  stand  for 
the  wedding  ceremony.  In  days  gone  by  it  was  in  the 
form  of  a  bower,  made  of  roses  and  myrtles.  This  custom 
must  have  a  very  long  history  behind  it ;  we  can  do 
no  more  here  than  point  to  a  few  of  a  very  large  number 
of  parallels.  Among  the  Hindoos  the  bridal  pair  stand 
within  a  "marriage-bower"  ;  this  custom  was  also  common 
in  Spain  at  one  time.  In  Abyssinia  a  bower  of  green 
branches  is  erected  in  the  courtyard,  in  which  "  the 
bride  and  groom  sit  in  state  on  opposite  sides,  each 
surrounded  by  friends."  At  Egyptian  weddings  "  the 
bride  is  attended  by  several  girls  who  cluster  round  her 
under  the  same  canopy."  ^  The  idea  underlying  this 
custom  is  the  same  all  the  world  over  ;  it  is  a  remnant 
of  the  curious  conception  that  a  bride — and  therefore 
also  the  bridegroom  who  is  about  to  be  united  to  her  ^ — 
is  "  dangerous  "  ;  she  was  regarded  with  an  undefined 
fear,  owing  to  the  ideas  which  early  man  had  with  regard 
to  all  women. ^ 

Another  marriage  custom,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
more  obvious,  is  the  spreading  of  the  Talith  over  the 
bridal  couple  ;  this  is  symbolic  of  union,  and  can  be 
paralleled  by  similar  rites  in  aU  parts  of  the  world. 
Thus,  at  marriages  amongst  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  it  is 
customary  to  throw  a  white  garment  over  the  pair  as 
an  indication  that  they  now  belong  to  one  another  ;  all 
present  exclaim  :  "  May  it  be  a  good  sign."  *  A  hke 
custom  is  seen  among  the   Hovas.     In  Tahiti,   in  the 

1  Crawley,   The  Mystic  Rose,  pp.  336  f. 

*  Originally  the  bride  was  concealed  from  the  bridegroom 
during  the  marriage  ceremony  ;    cf.  the  modern  bridal  veil. 

*  See  further  on  this  subject,  Crawley,  op.  cit.,  passim. 

*  'Fea.thexmdia,  Social  History  of  the  Races  of  Mankind,  v, -p.  140. 


"  MEZUZAH  "  425 

south-east  of  Borneo,  in  North  Nias,  and  among  the 
Battas  of  Sumatra,  the  pair  are  enveloped  in  a  cloth.' 

One  other  marriage-custom  maybe  noted  here,  viz.,  the 
breaking  of  a  glass  ;  this  is  said  to  be  a  "  sign  of  mourning, 
even  at  the  height  of  human  felicity,"  ^  for  Zion.  A 
more  rational  explanation  is  that  given  of  a  like  ceremony 
at  weddings  in  Morocco  ;  the  priest  hands  to  the  couple 
a  glass  of  wine  after  blessing  it,  and  each  drink  of  it. 
The  glass  is  then  smashed  on  the  ground  by  the  groom, 
"  with  a  covert  meaning  that  he  wishes  that  they  may 
never  be  parted  until  the  glass  again  becomes  perfect."  ^ 
In  Poland  at  Jewish  weddings  the  pair  drink  wine  which 
has  been  blessed  by  the  Rabbi,  after  which  the  glass  is 
broken.  The  real  idea  is  probably  that  the  drinking 
together  from  the  glass  symbolizes  union,  and  the  glass 
is  broken  in  order  to  keep  others  from  making  a  magical 
use  of  it  ;  for,  according  to  antique  ideas,  any  object 
touched  by  a  person  becomes,  in  a  sense,  part  of  himself ; 
and  if  the  object  is  harmed,  then,  by  imitative  magic,  the 
person  himself  is  harmed  too.  ** 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  some  of  the  Jewish 
marriage  customs  go  back,  in  their  origin,  to  a  hoary 
antiquity. 

X.  The  Door-Post  Symbol  (Mezuzah). 
This  consists  of  a  piece  of  parchment  made  of  the 
skin  of  a  "  clean  "  animal,  on  which  are  written  parts 
of  the  Shema\  viz.,  Deut.  6^~^  1 1^3-21^  in  twenty-two 
lines.  This  httle  piece  of  parchment  is  rolled  together 
and  enclosed  in  a  glass,  metal  or  wooden  tube,  and  fixed 
on  the  right-hand  "  door-post  "  {Mezuzah)  of  the  house. 
Not  infrequently,  in  the  case  of  the  very  orthodox,  it  is 
fixed  at  the  entrance  to  every  room  in  a  house.     A  small 

'  Crawley,  op.  cit.,  p.  174.  "  JE,  viii,  341. 

^  Crawley,  op.  cit.,  p.  383. 

*  The  rite  acquired  other  (but  still  early)  associations:  cf.  pp. 
287  f.  above. 


426    SYNAGOGUE   RELIGION   AND   WORSHIP 

opening  is  left  in  the  centre  of  the  case,  where  the  letter 
"  '>C3f,"  the  first  letter  of  Shaddai  ("Almighty"),  or  else 
the  whole  word,  written  on  the  back  of  the  scroll,  is 
visible.  1  The  Mezuzah  is  put  up  slanting,  pointing 
towards  the  house  or  room  ;  and  when  it  is  fastened  to  its 
place  the  following  words  are  pronounced  :  "  Blessed  art 
Thou  O  Lord  our  God,  King  of  the  world.  Who  hast  sanc- 
tified us  by  Thy  commandments  and  hast  commanded  us 
to  fasten  the  mezuzah."  Strictly  orthodox  Jews  touch 
the  Mezuzah,  and  kiss  the  hand  that  has  done  so,  when- 
ever they  enter  and  leave  the  room  or  house  ;  the  spot 
touched  is  where  the  name  Shaddai  appears,  and  the 
words  :  "  May  God  keep  my  going  out  and  my  coming 
in  from  henceforth  and  for  evermore,"  are  uttered. 
This  custom  is  based  upon  a  literal  interpretation  of 
Deut.  6^,  And  thou  shall  write  them  (i.e.,  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord)  upon  the  door-posts  of  thy  house  and 
upon  thy  gates.  The  Mezuzah  was  originally  a  safeguard 
against  the  approach  of  demons  ;  the  Mohammedans 
have  a  similar  custom  of  inscribing  verses  from  the 
Koran  on  their  doors  and  at  the  entrances  to  their  houses, 
with  a  like  object ;  the  same  prevailed  among  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  The  Rabbis  in  Talmudic  times  attributed 
a  protective  power  to  the  Mezuzah,  especially  that  of 
warding  off  evil  spirits. ^ 

The  religious  customs  here  referred  to  are  far  from 
exhausting  the  list  that  could  be  given  ;  but  enough 
has  been  said  to  show  what  an  extraordinary  link  with 
the  distant  past  is  afforded  by  the  popular  visible  ex- 
pressions of  their  religion  as  practised  by  the  majority 
of  the  Jews  at  the  present  day. 

1  Cf.   the  same  custom  with   regard   to  the    Head-Tephillah, 
mentioned  above. 
^  JE,  viii.,  532. 


General   Index  and   Glossary 

[Pages  piinted  in   black   type   indicate   passages  in  which  the  subject  in 
qut-stion  is  dealt  ivith  in  extcnso.] 


Ab  beth  din  (Vice-President  of 
the  Sanhedrin),  54 

Ab,  Fast  of,  404  U. 

Abba  Arika,  63 

Abbahu  R.,  63 

Abinu  Malkenu  ("  Our  Father 
our  Kinf,'  "),  387 

Abhitions  among  the  IsraeUtes 
the  Prototype  of  Baptism,  260 

,   Instances  of  in  the  O.T., 

261  ff. 

Aboth  de  Rabbi  Nathan,  68 

Achikar,  31 

Adam  and  Eve,  Life  of,  40 

Adam's  Sin,  240 

•Aden,  'Oiam  (Hymn),  312 

Adonai,   161 

"  Advent  Season,"  Jewish,  381 

Aggada.     (See  Haggadah) 

Aggadath  Bereshith  (Midrasli), 
90 

Ahabah  (Liturgical),  337  i. 

Akiba,  5,  20,  32,  56,  83,  291 

Alenu-prayer,   213 

Alexandrine  and  Jewish  Philo- 
sophy Concerning  the  Resur- 
rection,   226 

Canon,  29 

View  of  the  Hereafter,  228 

Alfasi.  71 

All  Souls'  Day,  390 

"  Allowed  "  Books,  32 

Almemar     ("  Reading-dais  "), 
276,  310 

'Am  ha-aretz  ("  People  of    the 

land  "),  7 
Am  segullah   ("  Peculiar     Peo- 
ple "),   164 

Amidah-prayer,  214,  227,  315, 
349  IT.,  386 


Amoraim("  Interpreters  "),  61ff. 
Amos,  Teaching  of,  12  ff. 
Amulet,  423 
Angels,  Guardian,  224 
.\nti-apocalyptic  Tendency,  42 
Aphikoman   ("  Dessert  "),   361 
Apocalyptic  Literature,  7 
,  Popular  in   Charac- 
ter, 211 

Movement,  2 1 1 

Writers,  7,  216 

Apocrypha,  28  ff. 

not   accepted    by   Official 

Judaism,  32 

Apostates,  Jewish,  226 

Aquila.  46 

Arab  Invasion,  Ancient,  15 

of  the  West,  21 

Arabia  the   Primeval   Home  of 

the  Semitic  Race,  14  ff. 
.\rabs,    14 

Aramaic  Prayer,  357 
'Arba  Kanfoth  ("Four  Corners"), 

422 
Aristeas,  Letter  of,  35 
Ark  of  the  Law,  286,  310 
Arm-Tefillah,  419 
'  Aron  ("  Ark  "  of  the  Covenant), 

310 
'Asarah   yeme   tesubhah   ("  Ten 

Days  of  Penitence  "),  381 
Asher  ben  Jechiel,  R.,  71 
Ashi,  R.,64 
Ashkenazim,  9,  97  ff. 
Asmoneans,  Feast  of,  375 
Astarte  (Ashtoreth),  414 
Atargatis,  415 
Atonement,    244-248,    253, 

416 
,   Day  of,  247,  251   f., 

403,  416 
Attis,  414 
Authorship,  .Ancient  Ideas  of,  35 


256, 


391 


427 


428 


GENERAL  INDEX   AND   GLOSSARY 


Baal    Berith    ("  Master    of    the 

Covenant  "),  268 
Kore  ("  Master  Reader  "), 

314 
Babylonia,     Centre     of     Jewish 

Population,   8 
Babylonian  Talmud,  61-73 
Bachya  ben  Joseph,  106,  156 
Baptism,     Jewish    Doctrine    of, 

255  264 

Among  the  Essenes,  263 

,   Antecedents  of  in  O.T.,  256 

Pre-Christian,  255 

,  whether    Sacramental    or 

not,  257  If.,  260 

,  Witnesses  at,  256 

Baraitha   ("  External  "  ;     Early 

Compilation  of  the  Oral  Law), 

53,  60  i. 
Bar-Kokba  ("  Son  of  a  Star  "). 

5,  8,  405 
Bar-Mi tzvah     ("  Son     of     Com- 
mandment "),  281  f.,  315,  353 
Baruch,  Apocalypse  of,  39 

,  Book  of,  31 

Bath-Kol    ("  Daughter- voice  "), 

189  ft". 
Beast,  Number  of  the,  219 
Bedika    Chamets    ("  Search    for 

leaven  "),  357 
Bema,  309  f. 

Bemidbar  Rabbah  (Midrash),  85 
Berakhah  ("  Blessing  "),  333  f. 
Berakhoth  ("  Blessings  "  ;  Mish- 

nah  tractate),  57 
Bereshith  Rabbah  (Midrash),  81 

,   Extract  from,   82 

Berith     Milah     ("  Covenant     of 

Circumcision  "),  268 
Beth  Chayyim  ("  House  of  Life," 

■i.e.,  Cemetery),  305  i. 
Din     ("  House     of     Judg- 
ment,"  i.e.,   the   Rabbi- 
nical court),  313,  401 

ha-keneseth    ("  House    of 

the  Assembly,"  i.e..  Syn- 
agogue), 309 
Ha-Midrash    ("   House    of 

Study"),  282  ff.,  312 
Biqqur   Cholim   ("  Visitation   of 

the  Sick"),  303 
Birkath    Erusin    ("  Blessing    of 

Betrothal"),   285 


Bi'ur-chamets     ("  Removal     of 

Leaven  "),  357 
Black  Feast,   The  (9th  of  Ab), 

404 
Blood,  Significance  of,  415  f. 
B'nei  Israel,  130 
"  Bread  of  the  Presence,"  230 
"  Breslau  School,"  131 
Burial,  306  f. 
Burial  Societies,  304  f. 


Calendar,  The,  318  ff. 

Canon,  41 

Canonicity,  28 

Chad  Gadya  ("  One  Only  Kid  "), 
364  t. 

Chakam  ("Learned"),  313 

Chalitzah  ("  Removal  "  of  Shoe), 
294  f. 

Challaph  ("  Knife,"  used  for 
Slaughtering),  415 

Chamets  ("  Leaven  "),  357 

Chanukkah  (Feast  of  "  Dedica- 
tion "),  29,  374-378 

lights,  375  f. 

Characteristics  of  Jews,  indige- 
nous,  17  ff. 

,  acquired,  22  ff. 

Chassidim  ("  Pious  "),  100,  129  f. 
216 

Chathan  Bereshith  ("  Bride- 
groom of  Genesis  "),  353, 
374 

Torah     ("  Bridegroom     of 

the  Law"),  353,  374 

Chazzan  (Professional  Reader), 
281,  314,  353 

Cheder  ("  Room  "=ithe  Hebrew 
School),  277  ff.  ' 

Chevrah  (Small  Synagogue),  312 

Kadishah      ("  The      Holy 

Guild"),  304 

Chinnuk  ("  Consecration  "),  312 

Chivva,  R.,  62  f. 

"Ciioboth  Halebaboth,"  106, 
156 

Christian  Doctrine  of  Sin  not 
understood  without  the  Jew- 
ish, 229 

Christianity,  Preparation  for,  7 

"  Chronicles  "  (Book  of),  mi- 
drashic  features  in,  76 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND   GLOSSARY 


429 


Chuppah    ("Canopy"),    285    f., 

306,  424  f. 
Circumcision,  255  f.,  408  f. 

,  a  badge,  258 

,   Covenant  of,  268 

,  Sacramental  in  Character, 

258 

,  Never  Sacramental  among 

the  Jews,  258 

of    a    Sanctifying    Nature, 

409 
__,  Service  of,  269 
Cock,  Sacrifice  of,  416 
Cohen,       Cohanim       ("  Priest," 

"Priests"),     305,    313,    352, 

374,  410 
Commemoration    of    the    Dead, 

227 
Confession,  247  f.,  252 
Confirmation,  Christian  Rite  of, 

282 

of  Jewish  Girls,  368 

Conversion  of  the  Heathen,  220 
Cosmopolitanism  of  the  Jc\vs,  24 
Covenant  People,  255,  409 
Creed  of  Maimonides,  225 

of  the  Jews,   152 

Customs,   Religious,  407  ff. 
,  a  Link  with  the  Past, 

426 
C^Tus,  2,  197 


Dancing  Dervishes,  423 
Daniel,  Additions  to,  30 

,  Book  of,  30,  32,  42,  45 

Dajryanim  (Rabbinical 

"  Judges  "),  313 
Dead,  Prayers  for  the,  339  ff. 
Death  and  Mourning,  303-308 
Debarim  Rabbah  (Midrash),  85 
Dedication.  Feast  of.  29.  374-378 
"  DefiUng  the  Hands,"  28 
Domnnologv,  420 
Demon >,  423,  426 
Derek  'eretz  (Minor  Treatise),  69 

suta(      „         „  ),69 

IDesertion  of  wife,  296  f. 
Deutero-Isaiah,  2,  31,  221 
Development,  Doctrine  of,  52 
Dietary  Laws,  The,  412-416 

,   Reasons  of,  412  ff. 

Differences  between  Jewish  and 

Christian  Theologians,  158 


Dispersion,  The,  6,  111  114 
Divorce,   289-297 

Laws,  291  ff. 

Door-post  Symbol,  425  ff. 
Dowry,  284 


Ebel  Rabbati  (Tractate),  69 
Ecclesiastes,  Book  of,  28 
Ecclesiasticus,  Book  of,  29,  32, 

42 
Education  of  the  Jew,  265  ff- 
Egvptians,   18,   426 
"  Eighteen  Blessings,"  215,  222, 

333  335 
Ekah  Rabbati  (Midrash),  83 

,   Extract  from,  83 

Eleazer  ben  Pedath,  63 

Eliezer  ben   Hyrkanus,    55,   61, 

90,  300 

ha-Kappar,  R.,  224 

Ehjah  in  the  Messianic  Era,  222 

,   "  The  Throne  of,"  268 

Elohim,   154,   161 
"  Emmoth  we-Deoth, "   106 
•En  Kelohenu  (Hynm),  312 
Enoch  Identified  with  Metatron, 

175 

,  Book  of,  7,  34,  38,  42 

-,  The  Secrets  of,  38 

— ,  The  Slavonic,  38 
Ephrem  Syrus  on  Hair-Offerings 

among  the  Heathen,  418 
Era,  The  Jewish,  326 
,  The  Messianic,  208  f.,  221, 

223    ff. 
'Ereb    Shabbath    ("  Eve    of    the 

Salibath  ").  319 
Eschatology,   211-228 
Eschatological  Drama,  The,  216- 

228 
Esdras,  Book  of,  30,  32 
Essenes,    123-127 

,  Baptism  among  the,  263  f. 

,   Doctrines  of  the,  125  f. 

Essenism,  Relation  of    to    early 

Christianity,   126  f. 
Esther  (Book  of).  Additions  to, 

31 

,   Fast  of,  405 

Ethrog  ("Citron").  372 

Exclusivcness  of  the  Jews,  24 

"  Exclusivists,"  168 

Exile,  The,  1  ff. 

,  Results  of  the,  2  ff. 


430 


GENERAL   INDEX    AND   GLOSSARY 


Expiatory    Sacrifices,    why 

quired,  231 
"  External  "  Books,  32 
Ezekiel,  Book  of,  29 
Ezra,  2,  53,  119 


Falashas,    130 

Fall,    Jewish   Teaching   on   the, 

240 
Fasts,  The,  403-406 

,  The  Dates  of  the,  323  ff. 

Festivals,    The    Dates    of    the, 

323  ff. 
First-born,   Redemption  of  the, 

409  ff. 

,  Service  for,  410 

,  Sacrifice  of  the,  411 

.  Origin  of,   410  ff. 

Forgiveness,  234  ff.,  253 
"  Fragment  "-Targum,   47 
Free-will,  237 
Froom  ("  Pious  "),  266 
Future  Life,  The,  224 


Gabbai     ("  Treasurer  "      of    the 
Synagogue),  315 

Gamaliel  the  Elder,  R.,  55,  59 

II,  R.,  55,  214 

Gaon  ("  Excellency"),  101 

Gehenna,  224,  226 

Gemara,  51,  60,  64  f. 

Genizah     (Synagogue     lumber- 
room),  28  ff. 

Gershom,  R.,  289 

Get    ("  Bill   of    Divorcement  "), 
293  f. 

Geullah  ("  Redemption  "),  338 

Gevatter  ("  God-father  "),  268 

Gazer oth  ("  Decrees  "),  53 

Ghetto  ("Jewish  Quarter"),   13 

Gifts  to  God,  why  Offered,  230 

Gilyonim  (?)     ("  Apocalypses  "), 
42 

Glass,  Breaking  of  at  Weddings, 
286,  287,  425 

God,  Jewish  Conception  of,  15^ 
168 

— —  and  the  Torah,  163 

,   Kingdom  of,  160,  212-216 

,   Name  of,  160 

,  Nature  and  Attributes  of 

158   ff. 

,   Personahty  of,    153  ff. 


God,   Righteousness     and    HoH- 

ness  of,  160 

,  Transcendence  of,  161  f. 

,   Relation  of,  to  Israel  and 

the  World,   163  ff. 

,   Sovereignty  of,   213 

,   Unitv  of,  152  ff. 

Goal   ("Redeemer"),    208 
'acharon     ("  Latter     Re- 
deemer"),   208 
Gog  and  Magog,  218-221 
Golgotha,  40 

Good  Deeds,  244  ff.,  249  ff. 
Grace,  260 

,   Prevenient,  235 

Great  Synagogue,  Men  of  the.  53 

— ,   Tradition  of  the,  54f. 

Greek-speaking   Jews,  6 
Guardian-angels,    224 


Habdalah    ("  Distinction,"    i.e., 
between     the     Sabbath     and 
other  days),  346  ff. 
Haftarah  (Prophetic  Lesson),  45, 

352,  378 
Hagbahah  ("  Elevation,"  i.e.,  of 

the  Scroll  of  the  Law),  353 
Haggadah  ("  Narration  "),  52  f., 

60,  75  ff.,  92  f. 
(The  Passover  Home  Ser- 
vice), 359-366 
Haggadic  Collections,  73 

Midrash,  81   ff. 

I      Hagiographa,  Targum  to,  49 
Hai,   R.,   101 
Hair-Offerings,  417  ff. 
Halakah,   Halakoth  (Traditional 
Laws  of  Ritual  and  Practice), 
20,  52,  53,  58.  60,  65  f.,  75  ff. 
Halakic  Midrashim,  The,   78  ff. 

,  Example  of,  80 

Hallel,  359  f.,  364,  372 
Hand-Tefillah,  419 
Harvest  Festival,  370 
Hasmoneans,  5 

Hattarath   Hora'a   (The    Rabbi- 
nical Diploma),  313 
Hazkarath  nashamoth  ("  Memo- 
rial for  the  Dead  "),  373 
Head-Tafillah,  419 
Heaven,  Kingdom  of.  160 
Hebrew,  Use  of,  280  ff. 
Hekal  ("  Temple  "),  310 


GENERAL   INDEX    AND    GLOSSARY 


431 


Hell.  226 

Hellenistic  Judaism,  112 

Spirit,  220 

Hem  of  Garment,  422 
Herodian  Period,  54 
Hillel,  48,  55,  58,  59 

,   "  House  "  of,  55 

,  "  School  "  of,  291,  350 

Holy  Spirit.  The,  184-191 

Holy  Wells.  261 

Home,   the  Centre  of   Religion, 

266 

,  the  Jewish,  302 

Hosha'anoth    ("  Hosannas  "), 

371  f. 
Hoshaiah,   R..  62 
Hosha'na  Rabba  (Festival),  323, 

370 
Huna,  R..  63 
Hyksos.  18 
Hypostases,   194 


"  Ikkarim  ("  Principles  "),   107 
Illumination,   Feast  of,  29 
Immersion,  Total.  256 
Immigration  of  Early  Semites, 

15  f. 
Impurity,  231 

Individual   Responsiliility,   253 
Intermediate   Agencies   between 

God  and  Men,  169-195 

State,  225  ff. 

Isaiah,  Ascension  of,  36 

,  Martyrdom  of,  36 

Isaiah  The  Prophet,  Teaching  of, 

13 
Ishmacl,  R.,  Rules  of,  55 

ben  Ehsha,  R.,  56,  271 

Israel  and  the  Holy  Land.  221 
,  Ingathering  of.   221 


J 

Jahwe,  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  161 
Jamnia,  Academy  of,  55 
Jehovah- worship,  415 
Jehudah  Hallevi.  109,   156 
Jeremiah.  Book  of,  31 

.  Epistle  of.  31 

Jerusalem,  destruction  of,  5 

in  the  Messianic  Age,  222 

,  Targum,  48  ff. 


Jew.  What  is  a  ?   17,  265  ff. 

Jews  of  Arabia,  100 

,  Chinese,  130 

of  the  Dispersion,  111-114 

,  Countries  of  Settle- 
ment of ,  112  f. 

,  Intellectual  level  of,  273  f. 

,   Polish,   16 

,   Racial  Characteristics  of, 

17  ff. 

,  Types  of,  266  ff. 

Jewish  Apostates,  Torment  of 
in  Gehenna,  226 

Colonies  in  Palestine,  12 

Dispersion,    More    Liberal 

Elements  of  absorbed  by 

Christianity,  8 

History,  Importance  of,  9 

Population  of  Galilee,   16 

Religion,  Study  of,  266 

Jochanan  bar  Nappacha,  62 

ben    Zakkai,    55,    79.    96, 

221,  299 

John  the  Baptist,  7 
Jonathan  ben  Uzziel.  48 
lose  of  Galilee,  R.,  56 
Joseph  Karo,  R.,  72 
Joshua  ben  Hananiah,  271 
Jubilees,  Book  of,  36.  42,  77 
Judah  ben  Jecheskel,  63 

ha-Nasi,  8,  56,  58,  95 

Judaism,   Alexandrine.   7 

,  Later  Sources  of,  105  ff. 

-,  Palestinian,  1,  7 

Judgment,  Day  of,  385,  388 

,  Last,  218,  224  f. 

Judith,  Book  of,  31  f. 
Justification,  248  f. 


K 


Kabbalah  ("  Tradition  "),  27 

Kabbahstic  Teaching,   129 

Kaddish  (Liturgical),  215,  301, 
307,  316,  339-341 

Kallah   (Tractate).  69 

Kapparath-Schlag  ("  Atonement 
blow"),  416 

Karaites,  The,  100,  127  f. 

Karaite  Liturgy,  104 

Keneseth  Israel  ("  Congregation 
of  Israel  "),  165 

Kethubah  ("  Written  "  Agree- 
ment, i.e.,  Marriage  Settle- 
ment), 284  ff.,  291 


432 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND    GLOSSARY 


Kethubim  ("  Writings  "  i.e.  the 
third  division  of  the  Hebrew 
Canon),  27 

Kiddush  ("  Hallowing "),  286, 
346-351,  369,  373,  386 

cup,  348  f.,  360 

Kiddushin  ("  Sanctr&cations  "), 
284 

Kimchi,  49 

Kingdom  of  God,  160,  212-216 

,  Rabbinical  Concep- 
tion of,  216 

— ,  Apocalyptic  Con- 
ception of,  219 

Kinoth  ("  Lamentations  "),  405 

Kodashim  (Mishnah  "  Order  "), 
57 

Kodesh  ("Sanctuary"),  310 

Kol  Nidre  ("All  vows"),  401 

Kosher-House,  302 

"Kuzari,"  109,  156 


Lashon  ha-kodesh  ("  The  Holy 

Tongue,"  i.e.,  Hebrew),  419 
Lavadores  ("  Washers  "),  304 
Law.     Sec  Torah 
Leap- Year,  321 

Leaven,  The  Search  for,  356  f. 
Leprosy,  Cleansing  from,  262 
Leviathan,  Feasting  upon,  226, 

370 
Levites,  313 
Lex  talionis,  60 
Lights,  Feast  of,  29,  375 
"  Little  Genesis,"  36 
Liturgical  Forms,   Structure  of, 

330  f. 
Liturgy  and  Sacrifice,  332  f. 
— ,  The  Jewish,  97  ff. 
"  Living  "  Water,  256,  261 
Logos,  181  f. 
Lord's  Prayer,  Parallels  to  the, 

387 
Lulab  ("  Palm-branch  "),  370  ff. 

M 
Maarib     ("  Evening     Prayer  "), 

315,  317 
Maccabaean  Period,  53 

Revolt,  5 

Maccabees,  Books  of,  29  ff.,  37 
Maccabaeus,  Judas,  29 
Machzor  (Festival  Prayer-book), 

101 
Machzor  Vitry,  102 


Magen       David      ("  Shield      of 

David  "),  311 
Magic,  259,  425 

Maimonides,    13,    71    f.,    101    f., 
105  ff.,  157,  337 

,  Creed  of,  225 

,  on  Marriage,  284 

Makom    ("  Space,"    a   name    of 

God),  162 
Malakh   ha-Maveth  ("  Angel   of 

Death  "),   303 
Malkiyyoth  ("  Kingdoms  "),  388 
"  Manasses,  Prayer  of,"  31 
Mar  Ukba,  249 
Marduk,  390 
Marriage,  284-289 

bower,  424 

Service,  Solemnity  at,  287 

Mass,  352 

Masseketh  (Tractate),  57 

Massorah    ("  Tradition  "),     128, 

311 
Matsah   ("  LTnleavened   Cake  "), 

361 
Mazzal  tob  ("  Good  Luck  "),  286 
Mediation,  Christian  Doctrine  of, 

169 
Megilloth  ("  Scrolls  "),  27,  49 
Meir,  R.,  56,  58 

Mekilta  (Name  of  Midrash),  78 
Memra  ("  Word  "   of  God),   46, 

178  184 
Mendelssohn,   13 
Messiah,  36,  196-210 

in  Apocrypha,   197-200 

,   Belief    in  among  Modern 

Jews,  205 

,  Conditions  of  Appearance, 

209 

,    Death  of,  225 

,   Days  of,  209 

— • —  in  Pseudepigrapha,    200- 
205 

and  Satan,  224 

and  the  Torah,  210 

Woes    or    "  Birth- Pangs  " 

of,  217  f. 
Messianic   Age,    in    Apocalyptic 

Writings,  217  f. 

-,  Felicity  of,  223  ff. 

,  Prophecy      directed 

against     Rome    in, 
219 

and    against     Jeru- 
salem, 222 


GENERAL   INDEX    AND    GLOSSARY 


433 


Messianic    Era,    197    f..  200    f.. 
209  f.,  215 

Hope,  34 

Kingdom  to  be  established 

on  Earth,  224 

Period,  221 

Metatron,  170-178 
Methurgeman    ("  Interpreter"), 

45 
Mezuzah  ("  Door-post  "  Symbol), 

425  f. 
Middoth  ("  Exei^etical  Rules  "), 

57 
Midrash,  58,  74-97 

ha-Gadol,  92 

Hage;adah,  74  IT. 

Halakah,  74  If. 

Koheleth,  84 

Megillath  Esther,  84 

Ruth,  84 

Tehillin   ("Psalms"),    91, 

218,  223 

Midrashic  Collections,  90  fif. 

Elements  in  the  N.T.,  93  IT. 

Literature,  Illustrations  of, 

92  ff. 

Midrashim,       Importance       for 

Study  of  the  N.T.,  79 
Mikra  ("  Reading"),  57 
Millennium,   217 
Minchah     (Afternoon      Prayer), 

315,  317 
Minhag,  Minhagim  ("  Custom  ") 

53,  320 
Minyan  ("  Quorum  "),  312,  314, 
Mishnah,  8,  11,51,  56-61,  154 

,  Language  of,  57  f. 

,  Character  of,  58 

,   Redaction  of,  58 

Tosefta  (EarUest  Compila- 
tion of  the  Oral  Law),  53 

"  Mishneh  Torah  "  (Work  by 
Maimonides  on  the  Codifica- 
tion of  Talmudic  law),  72 

Mithraism,  258 

Mitzvah,  Mitzvoth  ("  Command- 
nu-ut  "),  250.  269 

Moed  (.Mishnah),  57f. 

Mohammedans,  426 

Mohel  (Certified  Official  who 
performs  the  Rite  of  Circum- 
cision), 268.  409 

Molad  ("  Birth,"  i.e..  of  the 
month),  319  f.,  323 

Monogamy,  290 

»9-(-4'7; 


Montlis,    Names  of  the   Jewish, 

321 
"More  Nebuchim  "  ("  Guiile  to 

the     Perplexed,"     Work     by 

Maimonides),   107,    157 
Moses,   12,  52,  54 

,   Five  Books  of,  26 

,   Apocalypse  of,  36,  40 

,   Assumption  of,  38 

,  Testament  of,  38  f. 

Mourning,   303  f. 

Musaf    ("  Additional  "    Prayer), 

315,  317  f.,  370 


N 


Nabi  ("  Prophet  "),  423 
Nachmanides,    110 
Name,  194 
Naming  of  Child,  269 

Girls,  270 

Nashim  (Mishnah),  57 
Nasi  ("  Prince  "),  54 
Nations,  Fate  of,  219 
Nehemiah,  6 

,  Book  of,  45 

Ne'ilah  ("  Concluding  "  Service), 

315 
Ner  Tamid  ("  Perpetual  Lamp"), 

310,  375 
Nero,  219 
New  Testament,  6 
New  Year's  Eve,  390 
Nezikin  (Mishnah),  57 
North,     Quarter    whence      Evil 

comes,  288 


Obadiah  of  Bertinoro,  R.,  71 
'01am  ha-bah  ("  The  World  to 

come  "),  217 
ha-zeh    ("  This    World  "), 

217 
Omer,  Counting  of  the,  366  f. 
Onkelos,  Targum  of,  45  ff. 
,  haggadic     Elements 

in,  46 
Optimism  of  the  Jews,  21 
Oral  Law,  50,  57 
Tradition,     The,     50     ff., 

149  ff. 
Ordinance  of  Valladolid,  23 
Oriental  Character  of   the   Tew, 

16 


434 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND    GLOSSARY 


Oi-igen,  62 

Original  Sin,  235  ff.,  242 

not    Believed    in    by 

Jews,  240 


Paganism,  259 

Palestinian  Judaism,  29 

Talmud,   61-73 

Targum,  47 

Pantheistic  Ideas,  155 

Parables  in  Midrashic  Litera- 
ture, 95  ff. 

Paradise,  225  f. 

Parashah  ("  Section  "),  352 

Parnas  ("  President  "  of  the 
Synagogue),  315 

Box("  President's  "  pew), 

315 

Pasken  ("  To  decide,"  i.e.,  dis- 
putes, according  to  Rabbinical 
law),  313 

Passover,  the  Festival  of,  355- 
366 

,  Preparation  of,   356  ff. 

,  Synagogue  Services,  365  ff 

,  Home  Service.  (See  Seder) 

Paul,  St.,  7 

Pekah,  5 

Pentecost  ("  Feast  of  Weeks  "), 

366-368 
Perek  ("Chapter"),  57 

ha-Shalom  (Tractate),  69 

Persecution,  Results  of,  21 
Perseverance  of  the  Jews,  22 
Persian  Jews,  45 
Personality  of  God,  153  f. 
Peshat  ("  Simple"),  74 
Peshitta  (Syriac  Vulgate),  49,  74 
Pesikta  (Mishnah),  86 

,  Extract  from,  87 

,   Rabbati  (Tractate),  88 

Peyoth  ("Hair  Ringlets"),  417 
Pharisaic  Orthodoxy,   7 

View  of  the  Hereafter,  228 

Pharisees,  The,  5;'41,  60,  114-118 

,   Doctrinal  Beliefs  of,  1 16  If. 

,   Exclusiveness  of,  118 

_  Meaning  of  Name,  117 

,  Psalms  of  the,  37 

Philo,   181  i. 
Phylacteries,   418-421 

,  Laws  Concerning,  54 

Pidyon  ha-ben  ("  Redemption  of 
the  First-born  "),  270,  409  ff. 


Pirke  de  R.  Eliezer,  90 
Polygamy  Abolished,   289 
Polytheism.  10,  152 
Prayer-Book,   The  Jewish,   227, 
327-343 

,     Compilations       of, 

101  f. 

,  Printed  Editions  of, 

102  f. 
Prayer,    Ordering   of   the   Daily 

Morning,  342  f. 
Prayers,  Arrangement  of,  341  ff. 

for  the  Dead,  339  ff. 

,     General     Character     of, 

327  ff. 
Praying-shawl,  421 
Preparation  of  the  Sabbath,  319 
Preservation  of  the  Jewish  Race, 

266 
Prevenient  Grace,  235 
Primeval  Ocean,  The,  219 
Primitive  Man,  259 
Prophets,  12  f.,  26  f. 
Proselytes,  255 
Proverbs,  Book  of,  28,  32 
Pseudepigrapha,   33  ff. 

,     Rejected     by     Pharisaic 

Judaism,   41   f. 
Pseudo-Messiahs,  218 
Pumbeditha,  School  at,  63  f. 
Punishment,  Everlasting,  225 
Purgatory  of  Fire,  225 
Purification,  256  f. 
Purim,  Feast  of,  378-380 

Katan    ("Little  Purim"), 

378 

R 
"Rab,"  63 
Rabbah  bar  Huna,  63 
"Rabbah."  63 
"  Rabbana,"  64 
Rabbenu  Chananel,  70 
"Rabbi,"  56,  58,  61 
Rabbi,  Title  of,  62 
Rabbis  of  Jerusalem,  7 
Rabbinical  Literature,  8 

Orthodoxy,   8 

Schools,  8",  51,  61 

"  Rabina,"  64 

Rachatz  ("To  Wash"),  256 
Racial  Puritv  of  Jews,  17 
Rashi,  49,  59,  66,  70,  336 
Reconciliation,  237,  253 
Redemption   of  the   First-born, 
409  ff. 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND   GLOSSARY 


435 


Reform  Jews,  130  ff. 

Movement,  The,   14 

Ritual,  The,  104 

Religious   Behef,   Influence  of 

environment  upon,  10  ff. 
Religiousness  of  the  Jews,  18  f. 

Semites,   18  f. 

Rema  ("  Word  "),  181 
Remission  of  Sins,  237 
Rending  of  Garment,  304 
Repentance,  234,  237  f.,  245  f., 

253,  283 
Resurrection,  224 
Resuth  ("Personality"),    154 
Rings,   Betrothal,  289 
Ritual  Washing,  263 
Rosh    Chodesh    ("  Head    of   the 

montli  "),  323 
Rosh   Hoshanah   ("  New  Year's 

Day"),  305,  320, 


Saadjah  ben  Joseph,  106,  156 
Saadya,   Gaon,    101 
Sabbath,  The,  4,  344-354 

,  The  Eternal,   209 

,  Eve  Hymn,  345 

,   Hallowing  of  the,  345  ft 

Rest,  353  f. 

Sabbatical  Millennium,  217 
Saborai  ("  Explainers  "),  64 
Sacramental    Rites    during    the 

Earlv  Centuries  of  the  Christ- 
ian Era,  258  f. 

Sacrifice  and  Liturgy,  332  f. 

,  Modern    Jewish    Attitude 

towards,  331  f. 

of  Expiation,   230  f. 

of  Homage,  230  f. 

of  Propitiation,  230  f. 

,  why  offered,  230 

Sacrificial  Feast,  231 

System  in  Old  Testament, 

231 

Sadducees,  The,  5,  61,  120-123 

,   Doctrines  of,  122  f. 

,  Meaning  of  Name,   120 

Sadducaean   View  of  the   Here- 
after, 228 
Samaritans,  The,   100 
,  Liturgy  of  the,  104 

Schism,  5 

Sammacl,  240 

»'  Sanctity  of  the  Day,"  386 


Sanctify  oneself.  To,  263 
Sandek  ("  God-father  "),    268 
Sanhcdrin,  54  f. 
Sargonas  (Wliite  Shroud),  305 
Satan,   240,  388 

and  the  Messiah,  224 

Scapegoat,       Modern       Jewish, 

Counterpart  of,  417 
Schola,    Shod    ("  Synagogue  "), 

272 
Scrilies,  53,  118-120 
Seder,  Sedarim  ("  Order  "),  57 
Seder     (Home     Service     of     tlie 

Passover),  276,  305,  358-366 

Services,  Details  of,  360  ff. 

Tefilloth,  101 

Sefardim,  97  ff. 

Sefer     Torah     ("  Book     of     the 

Law"),  310,  351 
Segan  (Synagogue  Warden),  282, 

315 
SelaimC  Shekels").  410 
Self-assertiveness  of  Jews,  23 
Selichoth  (Litanies  of  "  Forgive- 
ness "),  341,  381  f. 
Semikath  yadaim  ("  Laying  on 

of  hands  "),  62 
Semites,  Characteristics  of,  18  ff. 

,   Purest  Strain  of,   14 

Semitic  Religion,  10  ff. 

"  Separateness  "  of  Jews,  6 

Septuagint,  7 

Shabuoth  ("  Weeks,"  Feast  of) 

367  f. 
Shacharith  ("  Morning  Prayer"), 

315 
Shadchan  (Marriage- Broker),  289 
Shaddai      ("  Almighty  "),     419. 

421,  426 
Shammai,  58  ff. 

,  "  House  of,"  55 

,   "  School  of,"  291,  350 

Shammash  (Beadle,  or  Sexton) 

315 
Shechita  ( ''Slaughtering"  Board), 

415 
Shekiiina,  46,   191-194 
Shel    Rosh    (''  Head  "-Tefillah) 

419 

Yad   ("  Hand  "-Tefillah), 

419 

Zeroa'    ("Arm  "  -Tefillah), 

419 

Sheliach  Tsibbur  ("  Messenger  of 
the  Congregation  "),  314 


436 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND   GLOSSARY 


Shema'  ("Hear"),  152  ff.,   167, 

214,  275,  335-339,  425 
Shemini      'Atsereth      ("  Eighth 

Day  Festival  "),  368 
Shemoneh     'Esreh     ("  Eighteen 

Blessings"),  222  f.,  330,  833- 

335 
Shemoth  Rabbah  (Midrash),  83 
Sheol,  225 
Shew-Bread,   230 
Shir    ha-Shirim    Rabbah    (Mid- 
rash),  83 
Shiva*   (The   "  Seven  "  Days    of 

Mourning),  307 
Shochet  ("  Slaughterer  "),  415 
Shofar     ("  Ram's-horn  "),     373, 

381,  383  ff.,  388  ff. 
Shofaroth     ("  Horn-blowings  "), 

388 
Shomer  habboker  ("  Watchman 

of  the  Morning"),  382 
Shulchan  ("  Desk  "),  314 
"Shulchan    Aruk  "    (Work    by 

R.  Joseph  Karo),  72,  75 
Siddur,  101 

of  Yemenite  Jews,  104 

Sidra("  Section"),  281,  352 
Sifra  (Midrash),  78 

Sifre  (Midrash),  78 

Sign  of  the  Covenant,  The,  409 

Simchath  Torah  ("  Rejoicing  of 

the    Law"),    276,    353,    368, 

373  f. 
Simon  ben  Gamaliel,  R.,  56 

Jochai,  R.,  56 

Lakish,   R.,   214 

Thassi,   198 

Simson  of  Sens,  R.,  71 
Sin  and  Sinfulness,  233  f. 

,  Conception  of  among  the 

Israehtes,  232  f. 

,  Origin  of,  235 

,  Original,  235  ft.,  240 

,  Teaching  of,  in  Apocrypha 

and   Pseudepigrapha 
235-239 

4  Esdras,  238  f. 

the  Psalter,  284 

the     Rabbis, 

240-244 

intheTargums,  240,ff. 

,      Christian     and      Jewish 

Teaching  on  contrasted, 

250f. 


Sin  and  Sinfulness,  Modern 
Jewish  Teaching  on, 
251-254 

,  Taint  of,  263 

,  Universality  of,  234 

,   Jewish   Doctrine  of,    229- 

255.  260 

,  Christian  Doctrine  of,  not 

understood  without   the 
Jewish  Doctrine,  229 
,   Old    Testament   Teaching 

on,  229  ff.,  257,  260  f. 
Sinlessness  of  the  Patriarchs,  237 
Sin-offering,  237 
Sins    Obliterated    by    Sacrifice, 

Purifications  and  Repentance, 

234 

,  Remission  of,  237 

Sinai,  Mt.,  19 

Sopher,  Sopherim,  45,  53  f. 

Sopheric  Age,  54 

Sopherim,  Teaching  Activity  of, 

54 

(Tractate),  69 

Solomon  Ibn  Gabirol,   R.,   156 

,  Psalms  of,  36,  42,  222 

,  Wisdom  of,  32 

Spirit,  The  Holy,  184-191 
Sukkah  (Mishnah),  58 
Sukkoth  ("  Tabernacles  "   Feast 

of),  368-374 
Sura,  School  in,  63  f.,  101 
Susannah,  Book  of,  76  f. 
Swaying  of  the  Body,  423 
Sybilline  Oracles,  40  f. 
Synagogue,  The,  309-318 

,  Institution  of,  309 

,  Services,  315  ff. 


Tabernacles,  Feast  of,  220,  368- 

374 
Tachanunim     (  "  Prayers  "      or 

"  Supphcations  "),   341 
Tallith     (Praying-shawl),     305, 

403,  421-423,  424 
Talmud,  The,  8,  51,  61-73 

,  Apocryphal     Appendices 

to,  68  ff. 

,  Commentaries      on,      and 

Compendiums  of,  69  ff. 

-,  Codification  of  the  laws  of, 

72 
,   Manuscript  of,  68 


GENERAL   INDEX    AND   GLOSSARY 


437 


Talmuds,  Difference  between  the 
two,  66 

,  Language  of  the,  66  ff. 

Talmud  Torah  ("  Study  of  the 
Law").  279  ff. 

Tanchuma  Yelammedenu,  88  f. 

Tannaim  ("  Teachers  "),  53,  55ff. 

Targoman,  45 

Targums,   The,  44-50 

,  "  Fragment,"  47 

,    Jerusalem,  48 

,  to  the  Hagiographa,  49 

,  of  Pseudo-Jonathan,    47 

,   Palestinian,    47 

,  to  the  Propliets,  48 

,  to  the  Pentateuch,  46  ff. 

Tebhah  ("  Chest,"  i.e.,  the  Ark), 
310 

Tebilah  ("  Baptism  "'),  255,  263 

Tefillah,  315 

Tefillin  ("Phylacteries"),  418- 
421 

Tehom  Kadmoniyyah  ("  The  Pri- 
meval Deep  "),  219 

Tekanoth  ("  Ordinances  "),  53 

Teki'ah  gedolah  ("  Great  Sound- 
ing." i.e.,  of  rams'  horns),  385 

Temple,  57 

worship.    Restoration     of 

in  the  Messianic  Age,  222 

,  Rebuilding     of      in     the 

Messianic  Age,  222 

Teru'ah  ("  Trumpet,"  i.e.,  ram's 
horn),  383.  390 

Teshubah  ( ' '  Repentance' ' ),  245 ff . 

Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Pa- 
triarchs, The,  40 

"  Thirteen  Principles  of  Faith," 
The,  107  ff.,  225 

Thospia,  R.,  64 

Tiberias,  School  at,  62 

Tobit,  Book  of.  31  f. 

Toke'ah  ("  Blower,"  of  ram's 
horn),  385 

Tohoroth  (Mishna),  57 

Torah,  The,  6,  14,  26  ff.,  41,  52, 
54,  135-151,  214,  232, 
249,  253 

and  Wisdom  Identified,  136 

and  God,  137,  163  f. 

and  the  Messiah,  210 

Christ  and  the,  146  f. 

,  Eternal  Character  of,  1 37  f . 

,  Every  virtue  conditioned 

by.  143 


Torah,    Intentled    originally  for 
all  men,  138 

,   Israel  the  People  of  the, 

144  f. 

,  in  the  Messianic  Age,  223 

,   Martyrdom  for  the,   224 

,  Merit  in  studying  the,  141 

,  Observance  of  the  deepest 

form  of  piety,  144 

Observed  by  God,  144 

Observed     l)y    the     Patri- 
archs, 143 

,  Period  of  the,  209 

,  The  Age  without  the,  217 

Tosafoth,  Tosafists,  59,  66,  70 
Tosefta  ("  Additions  ").  59  f. 

-,  Compilers  of,  62 

TotafothC  Frontlets  "),  418,  420 
Totenism,  413  f. 
Totems,  deified,  414 
Traditional  Law,  51 
Training  of  Children,  274  f. 
Trumpet-blast,  the  Signal  of  the 

Resurrection,  224 
Trumpets,  Feast  of,  385 
Tsitsith  ("  Fringes  ").  421-423 
Tsum  ("  Fasting  "),  403 
Turim  ("  Rows  "),  72 
Twisteil  Cords,  421 

U 

XTncanonical  Books,  32 

Unity  of  God,  152  ff. 

Believed  to  be  im- 
pugned by  Christ- 
ian Teaching,  155 

in  the  Jewish  Liturgy, 

158 

,  Proofs  of,  155  ff. 

"  Universahsts,"  168 

Unleavened  Bread,  Feast  of,  357 


Vorbeter  ("  Leader  in  Prayer  "), 

314 
Vorsagerin  ("  Woman  Reader  "). 

301 
Vorsanger  ("  Leader  in  Song  "), 

314 
Vows,  401  f. 

W 
Wacher  ("  Watcher  "),  304 
Warmness     of     Temperament 
among  the  Jews,  19  ff. 


438 


GENERAL   INDEX   AND    GLOSSARY 


Washing,  256  ff.,  263 
Wayyikra  Rabbah  (Tractate),  85 
Wedding.      See  Marriage 
Wedding-glass  Found  in  Roman 

Tomb,  288 
Weekly     Pentateuch     Lessons, 

351  ff. 
Weeks,  Feast  of,  366-368 
Widduy,  Widui  ("  Confession  "), 

247  ff.,  341,  400 
Wife-desertion,  296  f. 
Wisdom,  Book  of,  29 

of  Jesus  the  son  of  Sirach, 

31 

of  Solomon,  Book  of,  32 

Woes  of  the  Messiah,  208 
Women,    Religious    Position  of, 

297  ff. 
World-epochs,  217 


"  Yad  ha-chazakah  ' '  (Work  by 

Maimonides),  72,   101 
Yalkut  ha-Makiri,  92 
— —  Shimeoni,  91 
Yamim        nora'im       ("  Solemn 

Days"),  381 
Year,  The  New,  382-391 
Yebamah,  or  Yibbum  (Marriage 

by  Obligation),  294 
Yemenite  Jews,  100,  130 

,  Liturgy  of,  104 

Yeshibah  ("  Academy"),  62 
Yeshuth  ("  Existence  "),  156 
Yetserjha-ra  '  ( "  Evil  Tendency  " ) , 

242-244 


Yetser     ha-tob,     ("  Good     Ten- 
dency"),  243 
Yiddish  (Jewish  jargon),  278  ff. 
Yigdal  (Hymn),  337 
Yishub   ("Settlement"),   313 
Yom     Din     ("  Day     of     Judg- 
ment "),  385,  388 
Yom   Kippur   ("  Day  of  Atone- 
ment "),   391-403 

,  Atoning  Efhcacy  of, 

394 

— — -  ,  Description    of    the 

Celebration  of, 

396-403 

,  Lessons  for,  403 

"  Yom  Kippur  Jews,"  392 
Yom  Teru'ah  ("  Day  of  Shofar 

Blowing  "),  382 
Zikkaron    ("  Day    of    Me- 
morial"), 385 


Zealots,  5,  21 

Zealotic  spirit,  39 

Zebach  ("  Sacrificial  Meal  "),  231 

Zecuth  ("Satisfaction"),  Doc- 
trine of,  248-251 

Zeraim  (Mishnah),  57 

Zerubbabel,  5,  197 

Zikron  teru'ah  ("  Memory  of 
Shoiar-blowing"),   383 

Zikronoth  ("  Remembrances  "), 
388 

Zionist  Movement,  21 

Zugoth  ("  Pairs  "),  53  ff. 


Index   of   References    to    the  Bible,   Apocrypha, 
and   Pseudepigrapha. 


Gen. 

1 179,  353 

P 186 

P 318 

1"     ..    82,  154 

Pi     243 

3' 241 

38ff-   46 

3"    241 

52*    175 

8"     243 

103    98 

11" 46 

1710 408 

1710-1" 408 

ISif-     47 

21      391 

22      391 

22" 417 

32" 328 

3510 328 

363« 414 

4P« 186 

4311 185 

47" 86 

48i« 268 

48" 82 

49     46, 82 

49i«-     ....      47 
498 12    196 

EXOD. 

4",  "    260 

4*5,  !!• 408 

IP" 260 

121 85 

121-2" 366 

12» 355 

128 363 

12i'> 356 

12"  .  .  356,  361 

12" 411 

12-23i»....  78 

13i-i» 419 

132 411 


PAGE 

13* 355 

13"   ..   418,  420 

13iii«    ....  419 

1313 409 

1318  ..  418,  420 

14i8ff.     355 

15 342 

152     80 

16" 354 

163« 366 

1911.  12 367 

I91' 180 

19" 368 

202,  3 152 

202-2« 276 

208 345 

20811 348 

20" 80 

2315 230 

23i« 367 

23"" 170 

241    ..    172,  176 

2412 51 

258      ..    137,191 

2530 230 

29«,  "«....  191 

3112-1'    78 

31i»,  1' 348 

3211-1*    404 

3232 389 

323-» 170 

332    170 

33»,  10 191 

34110     ....  404 

34"    192 

34"    ..270,  411 

34" 166 

34" 391 

351-3 78 

353    354 

392«ff-    186 

403«<f-     191.   192 

Lev. 
4« 256 


412, 


425 

431      34  _ 

510-13 ; 

726      27 

99 "...  ! 

11 

14« 

141-32 

1448-53 
153  ....'..'. 
16....  392, 
1630       394  _ 

17'i   

1713 

171* 

18 

199 

I91',  18.... 
1919 

19",    24 

1927  ..  417, 

211-3 

21i« 

2223-32 

23i»,  i« 

2322 

2331,  32  392_ 

233* 

23" 

23"  .  .  .  59, 

25 

25" 

26<'^-   


PAGE 

231 
231 
231 
415 

256 
415 
256 
262 
256 
261 
403 
398 
415 
415 
415 
403 
11 
80 
11 
274 
418 
305 
391 
392 
366 
11 
393 
368 
370 
369 
36 
411 
199 


Num. 

P 94 

3*' 410 

5  ff 78 

624-2«   329 

6" 140 

625     192 

7 378 

81-* 378 

8* 378 

8'   8  262 


PAGE 

11" 226 

12115 260 

152s 402 

1531 179 

153'-'i    335,  177 

1538-"    421 

188 410 

181" 270 

19 257 

I918,  " 257 

21« 189 

2118 93 

22 170 

2324 383 

24 46 

281,  2 230 

2815 189 

2828 367 

291 383 

29'-ii 403 

2912-39 332 

30 403 

Deut. 

1  ff 78 

112 83 

121 83 

130 180 

49 243 

419 180 

425-*o   404 

55  ... .  179,  180 
512 345 

[341 
6*  167,275,336, 

[425 
6*-9     335.      419, 

6' 317 

68 418 

69 426 

810 334 

1113 105 

[419,  425 
1113-21  335,  337, 
1118 418 


439 


440 


INDEX   OF   REFERENCES 


PAGE 

14 412,415 

14" 198 

1519-161'   ..  368 

1910-11    263 

205-7 284 

2030 411 

216-» 263 

2212 422 

2311 241 

241 291 

2419-22    11 

255-10 294 

2830 284 

32.  33  ....  46 

32* 144 

33*   ..   275,  277 

34« 176 

Josh. 

52 408 

55 408 

1414 414 

242,  14,  15  .  .  10 

2431 54 

JUDG. 

T> 54 

Ruth. 
4' 294 

I  Sam. 

li-2'o 391 

1614  ff. 170 

1740 91 

2529 340 

2538,  39 261 

3014 414 

3018 423 

II  Sam. 

6' 181 

614 423 

715  ff- 260 

129-11 232 

1418-25    231 

I   Kgs. 

55 199 

740-50   378 

850 181 

2221  ff. 170 


PAGE 

II   Kgs. 

32' 411 

423 298 

510-14    256 

514 256 

1928 181 

I  Chron. 

246 414 

1511   120 

1639,  40 120 

II  Chron. 

1322 74 

242'       .  .    74,  76 
331  ff- 31 

Ezra. 

4' 45 

76,  10,  11   .  .    119 

Neh. 

81,4,  9_  13    _      119 

88 335 

1226      36 119 

1315 354 

ESTH. 
38 Ill 

43,  10 405 

89 Ill 

918 378 

930 Ill 

931 405 

101 Ill 

Job. 

1,  2 170 

1 8  ff-    388 

110.12    235 

4i»  .  .'. 226 

41' 234 

136-18 219 

145-8 219 

3323,  21 416 

Psalms. 

1 246 

1-118 91 

29 218 

212 155 


PAGE 

5 244 

6 342 

1610 225 

1836 94 

199 350 

20 343 

23 303 

266    .  .  256,  263 

30 337 

3119 88 

336 179 

3510 423 

3732 242 

4514 298 

47 384 

501-12 411 

551' 316 

698 389 

6925 363 

796,  ■> 363 

813 383 

8916 385 

904 217 

103 ...  303 

1041 87 

10519 179 

107i'-2o   ...  416 

10720 179 

1101 94 

113 359 

113,  114   ..  362 
113-118  371.377 

114 359 

115-118  ...  360 

11911 179 

136 360 

139 303 

139' 186 

145 343 

Prov. 

1434 221 

226 274 

2923 241 

ECCLES. 

633 54 

720 234 

725 209 

914  ff 54 

1420  ff. 54 

2834  ff- 54 


Cant. 
215 365 

Is. 

118 416 

31 139 

310, 11 233 

43 389 

516 3 

95,  6 210 

1032-12    ...  45 

112 188 

1111-16    221 

123 139  224, 372 

2410 224 

2620 219 

2712    1^. .  .  .  221 

2713' 222 

3314  .'. 233 

358  f- 221 

40  ff 2 

4013,  14 186 

408   7  2 

4220  ff. ".'.'.  ;  2 

4324 271 

451 196 

4523 166 

4816 186 

49    2 

4922 221 

52" 2 

5212-53    ...  93 

5213  ff. 49 

53 93 

533-5 261 

535,  6 93 

546 145 

5411  ff. 222 

556 -568  ...  404 

5714-5814  ..  403 

5719 243 

5813,  14  345,  348 

591' 87 

601 220 

604  9 221 

6010     222 

6110 87 

625 145 

6210 241 

632 87 

663 414 

6620 221 


INDEX   OF    REFERENCES 


J14_     15 
423-26 

926 
23^  .  .  . 

312-20    . 

41    ... 


288 
3 
404 
417 
338 
391 


325,  404 


L.\M. 

3««  .  .  .  363,  384 

EZEK. 

....  277 

418 

332,  394 
199 


3^  ... 
420 

33»='*  .' 
34"  . 
38»«  . 
39"  . 
40-44 
401  .. 


218 
221 
222 
382 
45i«-46'»  ..  366 
47 222 


PAGE 

712 221 

718-20    403 

Zkph. 

lia 357 

3» 166 

Hag. 

2'-'  . 


Dan. 

6'" 

316 
208 
200 
389 
224 

79  ....  87, 
7" 

121  217.219 

122  ..    116, 

Hos. 

22 

13"  ff- 

142 

143 

145 
217 
333 
316 

Joel. 

?">« 

217 

31' 

Am. 

221 

32  . 

145 

5'« 

12 

6*«. 

Obad. 

12 

20. 

Mic. 

98 

4*  . 

199 

4»   . 

..   200 

205 

71-6 

217 

Zech. 


222 
197 


3« 197 

61- 197 

819     4_  326,  404 

lO"'! 221 

10" 378 

14 223 

142  ff- 219 

148  "    217 

14«-ii 219 

14« 167 

14i6tT. 220 


I4»i  ..  . 
14M98, 

14« 

14«,  '  .. 


PAGE 

.  222 
:i,222 
.   220 

.    198 


WiSD. 


P-'  .  .  . 

2",  21  . 

58 

9' 

ir ... 
ill'  .. 

IFi   .. 

1  122-26 

12" 

1215 

I31-'  '.'. 
181  .  .  , 


Mai 


297 


2  (4)  EsDR. 

1 199 

22  ff- 1 53 

423       224 

42»-3i    237 

5 218 

6 218,  226 

68-»o 219 

638 180 

71'  ff- 239 

726 222 

728-3«   225 

335 237 

1211 219 

1232 200 

131-13 200 

133 220 

1311-50 200 

132«-=»   ....  220 

1411 41 

14" 41 

16 199 


Ton. 


.  188 

.  235 

.  160 

.  180 

.  153 

.  188 

.  153 

.  166 

.  236 

.  160 

.  166 

.  138 


lSi\i'' 180 

1922 164 


441 


PACK 

153 
31 

153 
138 


:5    6 


1313    . 
J  315  f. 


7»  .... 
10i»  .. 
12>9  .. 

151120 

1611  .. 
171-1"  . 
I71'   .. 

1725     26 

21«  '.  .. 

2131     .. 

241-23 . 
252*  .. 

331-13  . 

3314    15 

343 .. . 

3611  _ 

3616.22 

373 .. . 

382"  ff- . 
40  ff.  . 
42"  .  . 
471-11  . 

4718  .. 
5022  ., 


Bar. 


1"  ... 
115  . 
2«  .. 

218     17 


238 
237 
238 
166 
238 
236 
242 
166 
164 
238 
238 
242 
136 
236 
164 
236 
153 
221 
164 
242 
119 
399 
180 
197 
164 
164 


136 
160 
160 
153 


Pr.  of  Man. 
237 

I  Macc. 

2" 198 

4 29 

410^  21 160 

436' 375 

410 161 

12i»i^    237 

141-15 198 

14» 199 

141',  12 199 

14'i,  15....  199 

14"i   199 

II  Macc. 
838 165 

Bk.  of  Enoch. 


1  ff. 
1-^36 
P  .. 
5.  .. 
10.. 
105  . 


218 

.     38 

.    160 

223 

223 

.    160 

lOi'-i"   223 

1021   220 

153 160 

253 160 

37-71  . .  38,  201 

382 202 

453-8 202 

461 202 

483 202 

481,  5 220 

48« 202 

60'  «"■ 226 

6212    219 

85 239 

85.90 201 

89'o,  '1,  '8,  "  176 

90 223 

902» 219 

91-100  ....   217 

98" 239 

99"  ff-   218 

104111*   41 


442 


INDEX   OF    REFERENCES 


PAGE    1 

PAGE 

PAGE 

Bk.  of  Jub. 

Letter  ofAris. 

235     13     15        _ 

2323  .'...'.! 

117 

147 

51'  .  . .  . 
527.32   .. 

...    120 
...    118 

11' 223 

44 

239 

2323      24 

148 

530  .  .  .  . 

...    120 

1««  ff 223 

121, 122... 

114 

24« 

208 

532  .  . .  . 

...   245 

p8   223 

24«-29      

218 

618 

...   293 

4" 175 

JMatth. 

248 

217 

63'  ... 

...   244 

2011-"    218 

11 

164 

2427 

202 

730  ... 

...    120 

21* 160 

1" 

95 

2429 

39 

98  ...  . 

...   208 

23 223 

2 

220 

2431  .  .  208, 

222 

919  ... 

...   208 

2330 221 

26     15     la     23  _ 

95 

251-12 

96 

93s  ... 

...    190 

25i*-i«   ....    188 

312 

237 

2531-46 

221 

1025  .. 

...    120 

50"^ 221 

3"-i'    

190 

2723 

40 

102«     .. 

...    147 

5' 

244 

2752 

210 

1133.     39 

...    117 

Pss.  OF  Sol. 

51',  18.   147 

149 

1139-52 

...    117 

10» 160 

11 222 

17....     37,  222 

17*  «   203 

1731 221 

18 37 

519 

147 

Mk. 

1142     46 

52..     148 

52» 

532 

6* 

61*,  IS  ...  . 

7« 

7i» 

148 
293 
249 
244 
146 
147 

21*1'    .... 

216 

21'  ...... 

218 
218-23 

118 
120 
246 
117 
147 

11*5,    46 
1230     .. 

13i«    .. 
16i«  .  . 
161'  .. 

1629     .  . 

...    120 
.  .  .  .     96 
.  ...   423 
147,   148 
.  ...    147 
. ...    147 

Sib.  Orac. 

723 

99-13 

20 
118 

22* 

3i-«    

117 
117 

188  ... 

1810-14 

.  ...  208 
....    117 

S"" 112 

9" 

246 

33* 

246 

208 

20 

1812    .. 

....   405 

3«"  ff- 202 

91' 

147 

615 

183"    .. 

. . . .   209 

5*14  ff. 202 

9"o 

422 

71  23 

2120  fi. 

....   218 

lOs,  «  .... 

146 

73 

115 

2125 

. ...    218 

Apoc.  Bar. 

11" 

148 

73,  * 

117 

22*3   .. 

....    187 

4»<« 222 

12^ 

147 

7^-13 

828 

91-11 

9' 

911 

1011,12    .. 

1223-25 
1228  fl.  .   .  .   . 

1228  .;■.;. 

138 

13» 

.    148 
.   208 
.    190 
.    190 
.   208 
.   293 
.    140 
.   335 
.    154 
208 
.   217 

2421  .. 

....   208 

27-29 223 

28^3 218 

293 202 

32* 222 

36-60 202 

39,40 223 

593 202 

72,  73 223 

72* 220 

14i» 

143» 

152 

15« 

152* 

152« 

153« 

161' 

172 

17' 

.   334 
.   422 
.    115 
.    147 
.    146 
.    146 
.   334 
.    161 
.    194 
.    190 

11-3      .. 
11-5       .. 
1»    .... 
113     ... 
11*     .. 
119-34 

38    ... 
33*     .. 

JN. 

182,  184 
....  180 
....  80 
....  161 
....  194 
....  190 
....  182 
....    190 

Asc.   Is. 

171",  11  .  .  . 
1820 

.   208 
.    193 

13i*-2»    ... 

133* 

.   219 
.   411 

41*     .. 
5I8     .. 

....    139 

....   208 

6-11 36 

19112  

.   291 

1522     .... 

.      40 

537    38 

....    190 

9" 176 

I91' 

.    147 

632,    33 

....    140 

Mart.  Is. 

19" 

1928 

.   245 
.   219 

Lk. 
1,2 

7 

635,  *8, 
655,    66 

51...    139 
....    140 

51* 187 

201-1''  .  . . 

.     97 

P» 

.    194 

658    .. 

139,   140 

201-1* 

143 

139 

.   268 

725     .. 

205 

Test.  Patr. 

2210-12 

.     96 

P9 

.   409 

735     .. 

6 

Jud. 20  .  . .    188 

2223  ff.      .  . 

.   411 

1«8 

.   208 

73'     .. 

373 

„      24  .  . .   204 

2235 

.    120 

221 

.   409 

738     .. 

139 

Levi    8  . . .   203 

2944 

.      94 

222-24_    27^    28        409 

7*»  .. 

118 

18  . . .   204 

232-3" 

.    117 

232 

.    220 

812  .. 

.  140,  372 

233 

.    147 

2*2 

.   276 

81'  .  . 

140 

III  Macc. 

233,   *    .  .  . 

,    148 

2«2 

.    148 

922  .. 

385 

21  fl- 160 

23*   ..   420,  421 

321,     23.   .  . 

.    190 

1023     . 

375 

INDEX   OF   REFERENCES 


443 


10^- 325 

ir-" 142 

12-"  30  190 

12^2 385 

13"-«    362 

151 140 

155  ,       142     ,^2 

17* 149 

191* 319 

19" 40 

20* 319 

Acts. 

l'-^ 354 

2»-ii   112 

2's 316 

23« 256 

:V 316 

5''   121 

5'" 55,    120 

53» 55 

7s 409 

7« 39 

9' 194 

9"    190 

]0« 316 

10» 316 

10''.  1" 190 

lO''" 316 

13^*9 142 

15^ 118 

152«.  2» 416 

17"   114 

19» 272 

21" 416 

23**  .  .  .  116.    122 

23» 120 

26"  ...  117,    118 

2735 ;.i34 


PAGI, 

PAGK 

PAGB 

l^OM. 

4' 409 

11" 

187 

1-" 

"46 

4'- 208 

12" 

222 

pi- 

246 

4-«  ...   145,    165 

2' 

248 

4-* 222 

I   Pet 

'>!!)  tr. 

272 

Eph. 

118.20 

208 

3-'' 

144 

l-« 

205 

3-''   '-•'.... 

250 

2*.  » 142 

1-'     

185 

4- 

9,50 

51B.1H 

93 

2'* 149 

II   Pet 

5-^» 

250 

4«« 188 

3« 

?.]7 

5-'" 

144 

5'^2  3-   145 

6'< 

144 

5=3 165 

JUDK. 

62-' 

7« 

2.39 
144 

5="-^-'   165 

6'-'>'    203 

9 

177 

9,  16,  18... 

39 

vS^'  ....  144 

182 

Phil. 

s-" 

188 

Rf.v. 

8^' 

182 

26 208 

3* 

389 

9^"  «.      .  .  .  . 

144 

2' 182 

(^ 

'^18 

1     COK. 

7'-- 

10' 

136 
93 

3^  ....  117.  404 
4:' 389 

Col. 

9 

218 

10* 

12ifi    

190 

218 

ly:,    ,0  232, 
1 5"'0 

257 
161 

1'5 182 

12'''' « 

13 

219 
219 

1552 

224 

I  Thess. 

13« 

13>« 

289 
219 

II  Cor 

4>« 224 

14»-' 

190 

I-o 

209 

I  Tim 

14«« 

219 

12- 

193 

16" 

219 

1'* 236 

17 

219 

Gm.. 

1»5 

161 

II  Tim. 

17« 

18 

389 
219 

913  H. 

144 

31-8 208 

19"> 

188 

•>I8 

250 

19"  f 

219 

<)-.;i 

250 

Hiir.R. 

20*-'^ 

223 

311  n. 

144 

3 368 

20--»o 

219 

3'-' 

208 

4'«,  'i 182 

2P 

194 

S'-''    

145 

725 182 

21  "■■^>    .... 

222 

3-» 

W5 

8«  «    145 

212*  ft 

220 

3•-^  -5 

143 

11« 182 

223 

220 

THE    END 


f»nntfti  i,'  Sir  Uamc  Pitman  &•  Sana,  Ltd ,  Bath. 


Date  Due 


M. 


-ccTTjgg^^^77 


|.^^ia*B^'^' 


1 

I 


